Trans-Atlantic

News and analysis of trans-Atlantic rates, volumes, reliability, services, contracting, ports, end-to-end strategies

The latest Trans-Atlantic News & Analysis

Shippers remain slow to embrace more expensive green shipping services

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Carriers are reporting some successes in convincing shippers to use their emissions-reduction services, but acceptance of premium — and costly — green products remains a hard sell in a market where rate levels are at record lows.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Crashing trans-Atlantic spot rates delay long-term contract signing

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Carriers and shippers, however, believe there is little room left to fall for spot rates that are already below pre-pandemic levels.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

Forwarders warn of rising transshipment, cargo delays after ETS rollout

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Carriers are already beginning to adjust schedules ahead of Europe’s new shipping carbon tax, something forwarders say could reduce direct port connections and boost transshipment activity.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

OOCL bucks trans-Pac trend with sharp rise in Q3 volume, but revenue slumps

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The Cosco subsidiary reported mostly positive volume metrics for both the third quarter and nine months through September, although revenues were down sharply.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Doubts growing over shipping’s readiness for Europe’s ETS carbon tax

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
To comply with the European emissions trading system, ocean carriers will essentially need to become experts in carbon credit trading, on top of monitoring, verifying and reporting CO2 emissions.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeLogistics Technology NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Europe’s coming ETS surcharges based on ‘guesswork’: Sea-Intelligence

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
A significant misalignment in ETS surcharges among ocean carriers can be expected if the per-FEU levies already announced by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are any indication, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Shippers to bring European ETS surcharge into carrier contract talks

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Cargo owners want complete transparency from carriers in their “emission surcharges” that will be levied on customers from the first quarter of 2024 and are looking at how the surcharges can be handled in long-term rate agreements.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Trans-Atlantic blank sailings to ease despite loss-making rate levels

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Carriers appear reluctant to make the drastic capacity reductions required to match supply with demand on the westbound trade lane, leaving rates far below pre-pandemic levels.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

No bottom in sight for free-falling trans-Atlantic rates

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The spot market from North Europe to the US East Coast continues to weaken and lackluster attempts by carriers to withdraw capacity are having little effect on balancing supply and demand.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

CMA CGM closes deal for two New York-New Jersey marine terminals

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The completion of the terminal acquisitions gives the carrier a stronger footprint in the US’s largest East Coast gateway.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsTrans-AtlanticMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Hamburg follows North Europe port rivals with H1 volume decline

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Weak European demand for containerized trade through the first half is hurting port throughput at the region’s top three gateways, but signs are emerging of recovering volume on certain routes.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeInternational ports

Shippers reluctant to shoulder high cost of decarbonization: executives

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Getting shippers to commit to premium-priced, low-emissions shipping services is a hard sell for ocean carriers and forwarders as cargo owners enjoy rates that are now mostly below pre-pandemic levels after two years of record highs.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Rate collapse drags trans-Atlantic trade to loss-making levels: Hapag-Lloyd CEO

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Rolf Habben Jansen has hinted that capacity cuts on the trans-Atlantic could be made “fairly soon” as supply outstrips weak demand for US imports.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

Ocean carriers shift capacity as trans-Atlantic slumps: Alphaliner

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Ocean rates for North Europe to North America have fallen significantly below pre-pandemic levels on some trade lane indices after a wild three-year ride that took container shipping prices to record levels.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

EU carbon tax’s long reach to affect global rates, vessel deployments: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and Journal of Commerce analyst |
Inclusion in the European Union’s emissions trading system will affect not only the cost of shipping to and from the EU, but will likely put upward pressure on pricing for cargo that doesn’t touch the EU at all, writes analyst Lars Jensen.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropePort NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

First-half revenue, earnings contract sharply at Cosco, OOCL

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The extent to which the rapidly cooling container shipping market is hurting China’s main carriers is likely to be repeated across the industry as reporting season approaches.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

No sign yet of recovery as trans-Atlantic, Asia-Europe rate decline continues

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Sustained weakness in demand, excess capacity and ongoing economic uncertainty are undermining the container trade in and out of Europe, making a third-quarter rebound increasingly unlikely.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

IMO must set zero-emission target for 2050: Norwegian shipowners

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The shift to green fuels needs to be “supercharged” by establishing a clear zero-emissions target at the IMO’s July meeting, according to an Oslo-based shipowner group.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Ocean trade emerges from pandemic haze to face new realities

Peter Tirschwell |
Although the container shipping order book is the highest it has been in many years and demand remains subdued, the ground is shifting under the ocean market in new and unfamiliar ways, writes Peter Tirschwell.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Forwarders locked in margin-destroying price war in post-COVID ocean market

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Price is once again on the side of shippers, with excess ocean capacity allowing them to extract lower rates from service providers.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsForwardingTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

Don’t equate ‘normal’ ocean shipping market to stability: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and JOC Analyst |
While indicators may point to a “normal” container shipping market in the wake of the pandemic, it is important to remember that disruptions large and small are all part of that normality, writes analyst Lars Jensen.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropePort News

Trans-Atlantic spot rates tumble on supply-demand imbalance

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
While rates on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trades may have hit bottom, there is still some way to go before headhaul trans-Atlantic prices reach pre-pandemic levels, but the gap is narrowing by the week.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Atlantic

Data shows container shipping market could be at its bottom: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and JOC Analyst |
Fundamentally, current data on ocean freight rates supports the notion that the market has, overall, reached a low point and is about to rebound slightly to be brought back in line with long-term trends, writes analyst Lars Jensen.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-Atlantic

Trans-Atlantic westbound demand fell sharply in March amid rate decline

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
An abundance of trans-Atlantic capacity and improving schedule reliability through the first quarter has been accompanied by a steep drop in volume, with rates falling steadily since the New Year.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsTrans-Atlantic

Antwerp-Bruges Q1 volumes slip amid Europe’s economic woes, Ukraine war

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The poor economic conditions affecting Europe’s major economies and the ongoing war in Ukraine continue to drag down container volumes at the continent’s second-largest port.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeInternational ports

Ocean carriers showing signs of resilience despite freight rate plunge: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and JOC Analyst |
Despite the sharp decline in ocean freight rates, current market fundamentals point to carriers, to some degree, becoming better at pricing and yield management than they were prior to the pandemic, writes analyst Lars Jensen.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

OOCL Q1 revenue plunges in early sign of freight rate collapse

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
The company’s revenue for the 2023 first quarter is one of the ocean shipping market’s very first indications of how the plunge in rates will affect carriers’ bottom lines.
Container linesContainer Shipping NewsTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

High-flying trans-Atlantic air cargo volume posts March decline

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Steadily increasing volume on trans-Atlantic air freight routes ended in March as demand growth slowed for the first time in two years.
Air CargoTrans-AtlanticAir Cargo Forwarder News

Cosco reports $19 billion profit for 2022, but outlook comes with 'challenges'

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
A series of challenges lies ahead for the container shipping industry, but the effects of slowing demand and a surplus of capacity will be softened by a record financial performance in 2022.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

MSC adds Jaxport stop on trans-Atlantic service

Teri Errico Griffis |
The Scan Baltic to USA service, which will begin calling Jaxport in late April, marks the port's second trans-Atlantic service and fifth container service.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticNorth American ports

North American longshore labor talks span coast to coast

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The rare occurrence – in which multiple longshore labor negotiations across North America are taking place either simultaneously or nearly so — is enough to make shippers nervous, or at least wary, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Longshore laborMaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticNorth American ports

Shippers unite in push for carriers to scale up use of zero-carbon fuel

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Shippers are keeping pressure on carriers to decarbonize their operations with the launch of another US-led initiative to speed up container shipping’s transition to fossil-free fuels.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-EuropeSupply chain

New NS Norfolk-Memphis service aims to grab East Coast cargo shift

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Norfolk Southern and the Port of Virginia are not only targeting importers using trans-Atlantic services from Europe and Asia, but also exporters moving goods through Memphis, such as the cotton industry.
North American portsTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticNorth-American rail

US imports to begin recovery, but remain well below 2022: retailers

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Retailers say their main concern right now is to avoid over-ordering product from factories in Asia until they get a better handle on consumer demand later this summer.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Beware of ocean carriers sidestepping EU emission rules: port groups

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Carriers may try to offset the costs of compliance with Europe’s incoming Emissions Trading System by adding transshipment calls outside the 300-mile ETS zone, port groups say.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

TPM23: Shipper demand for emissions data reveals industry gap

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Despite the lack of industry-wide emissions measurement, shippers are pressing ahead with their own sustainability programs and working with supply chain emissions data that is available, TPM23 attendees were told.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

US SE ports prepping for more growth amid continued West Coast diversions

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Southeast ports are handling more imports from Asia than ever, but it’s unclear how much of that growth will stick once negotiations over a new West Coast longshore contract conclude.
Container Shipping NewsTrans-AtlanticPort NewsNorth American ports

TPM23: Ocean Alliance could be next domino to fall after 2M: analyst

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Cosco Shipping’s large orderbook and decreasing market share make it more likely to go after customers of its Ocean Alliance partners, analyst Lars Jensen told TPM23.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe

TPM23: Trans-Atlantic profitability ‘unique’ given loss-making history: CTS

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The elevated rate levels on the trans-Atlantic will continue to soften, but there will be no steep drop in prices as seen on the major trades out of Asia, TPM23 attendees were told.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsTrans-Atlantic

Hapag-Lloyd inks LNG deal to power incoming mega-ship fleet

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Hapag-Lloyd is the latest carrier to sign a supply deal with a major energy company aimed at locking in the volumes of alternative fuel required to drive new dual-fuel ships.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificTrans-AtlanticAsia-Europe