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Container Shipping News

The latest container shipping news and analysis of ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, technology solutions and end-to-end connectivity. Coverage includes the movement of containerized cargo handled by marine terminals and container ports, depots, container lines, drayage, consignees, importers and shippers, forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and off-dock warehousing providers. The Journal of Commerce's container shipping news includes news from the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe, North America-Caribbean, Central and South America trades, and intra-Asia trades.

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The latest Container Shipping News News & Analysis

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

Hapag-Lloyd prioritizes costs as rates, earnings plummet

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The carrier has followed its peers with a sharp decline in earnings, and although still highly profitable, its CEO warned that rates on the east-west trade lanes are at unsustainable levels.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificAsia-Europe

Weak US imports via Western Canada reveal BC port challenge

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The cracks in the gateway’s attractiveness to importers and exporters out of the US Midwest were showing before this July’s work stoppage and the decline in import demand across North America.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth-American rail

ILA, USMX remain at odds over dockworker wage increases: Daggett

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The ILA president says further progress on a new master contract, as well as port-specific local deals, can’t happen until the two sides agree on coastwide pay hikes.
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminals

Zim reinstates China-US fast ship service to target e-commerce demand

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
US e-commerce imports are filling much of the available air cargo capacity out of China, spurring the ocean carrier to bring back an expedited service it was forced to mothball eight months ago.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Pacific

India-US cargo flow buffeted by blank sailings, sliding schedule reliability

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
On top of the sailing cuts, some recent vessel arrivals at India have been behind schedule by up to a week, resulting in cargo rollovers, according to forwarder sources.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

Carrier consolidation, NVO competition weigh on shipper association growth

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Shipper associations that struggled to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic because there was no extra capacity to sell are now trying to convince shippers of the benefits of rate stability.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesForwarding

Hamburg terminal operator HHLA accepts MSC’s offer for ownership stake

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
While the carrier will not hold the controlling share, expanding its presence in Hamburg will cement MSC’s terminal operating position in Europe’s third-largest container shipping port.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesPort NewsMarine terminalsInternational ports

ONE finalizes terminal deals in Los Angeles, Oakland, Rotterdam

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The Singapore-based carrier has now expanded its access to capacity in the strategic locations of the US West Coast, North Europe and Southeast Asia.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American portsInternational ports

ILA's Daggett raises possibility of 2024 strike at US East, Gulf coast ports

Peter Tirschwell |
Ahead of an International Longshoremen’s Association conference, president Harold Daggett has warned union rank-and-file to be prepared for the “possibility of a coast-wide strike.”
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American ports

Delaware’s planned Edgemoor terminal gets grant from US port funding program

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Along with the grant for the Port of Wilmington’s proposed container terminal, Tacoma and Long Beach received grants for improving truck and rail access, respectively.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Falling backhaul Europe-Asia rates ‘subsidizing’ eastbound freight moves

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
With weak demand for European imports in Asia and ample vessel capacity, spot rate levels on the backhaul trade are in freefall.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesForwardingAsia-Europe

Convoy acquisition meant to serve import customer truckload demand: Flexport CEO

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
Ryan Petersen tells the Journal of Commerce that the first order of business after this week’s acquisition of Convoy’s tech stack is getting the Convoy app running again and reaching out to the shuttered company’s customers.
Logistics Technology NewsForwarding

Maersk cuts more jobs, warns of ‘dire situation’ for container market

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The carrier expects no short-term improvement in the container shipping market as large numbers of new vessels are delivered and capacity management measures appear unable to stem falling rate levels.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Volume growth underscores need for expansion at Port Tanger Med

Peter Shaw-Smith, Middle East Contributor |
Given the current growth rate, Morrocco’s Tanger Med could reach its nominal annual container capacity of 9 million TEUs as early as next year.
International portsContainer Shipping NewsPort infrastructure

ONE expands Indian network amid signs of export trade recovery

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
A raft of recent service additions and enhancements has cemented the carrier’s intra-Asia reach for Indian customers.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Carriers, shippers prepare for 2024 amid spectrum of uncertainty: analyst

Lars Jensen, CEO & Partner, Vespucci Maritime, and Journal of Commerce analyst |
Forecasts are important for the container shipping industry, but it comes down to identifying and categorizing risk and then using that approach to develop a robust plan in the face of “known uncertainties,” writes analyst Lars Jensen.
MaritimeContainer lines

Southeast governors say ILA could ‘weaponize’ Leatherman court decision

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Six amicus briefs have been filed to the US Supreme Court supporting the South Carolina Ports Authority’s position that the ILA is illegally forcing carriers to boycott Charleston’s Hugh Leatherman Terminal as a means to acquire jobs that belong to state employees.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesLongshore laborTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

USWC-bound ships boost reliability in September amid cargo push

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
On-time performance to the West Coast improved during the busiest month of 2023 for Asian imports to date, but East Coast reliability took a dip.
Trans-PacificContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American ports

Omni Logistics sues Forward Air to enforce completion of merger deal

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Freight forwarder Omni isn’t giving up on a merger with Forward and is moving to force completion of the deal despite Forward’s cold feet. 
SurfaceForwardingTrucking NewsLTL

Shipping emissions data-sharing initiative launched by DNV, GSBN

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The two partners will collaborate on pilot projects aimed at accurately measuring and tracking emissions reduction data across the supply chain.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesLogistics Technology News

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

ILA contract expiration, Panama Canal limits favor West Coast ports: Matson

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Pacific-focused Matson has already enjoyed the return of some cargoes that had been diverted to the East and Gulf coasts but are now returning to the West Coast after the ILWU ratified its contract in September.
Trans-PacificContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

Overcapacity, weak demand prove huge drag on ONE’s earnings

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The wide imbalance between vessel supply and demand is doing carriers no favors as earnings continue to tumble massively off the record highs of last year.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

New MSC-backed Baltimore container terminal on track for 2028 debut

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Developers of the Sparrows Point Container Terminal are starting the permitting process with the US Army Corps of Engineers that will allow construction to begin in 2025.
North American portsContainer Shipping News

Carriers, shippers face Australia cargo delays from DP World stevedore strikes

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
DP World said it is currently experiencing a seven- to eight-day turnaround in vessels being worked at four major ports in the country, a significant delay compared with the usual two-day turnaround.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

Asia-Europe ocean shippers go to tender in a freight buyers' market

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Still, sharply rising vessel operating costs could limit any exploitation of the supply-demand imbalance with carriers unwilling to accept loss-making contracts.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesAsia-Europe

‘No vacancy’ signs up on trans-Pacific as e-commerce demand absorbs air cargo capacity

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
A month ago, no one was predicting a peak season for air cargo on the trans-Pacific, but finding space from China to the US has become difficult as e-commerce demand heats up.
Air CargoTrans-PacificAir Cargo Carriers NewsAir Cargo Forwarder News

Port of Montreal labor talks head to mediation at longshore union’s request

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
While neither side has made public its terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the talks say the union is looking for a 20% increase in wages over four years and a faster seniority path for dockworkers.
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

China-India rates tick steadily higher as Asian manufacturing diversifies

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
Seeing the demand growth, niche intra-Asia liners have beefed up their networks out of India, deploying bigger vessels and opening more calls to the country’s East Coast ports.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

Hobbled Panama Canal pinched further as eastern Asia factory growth favors Suez

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The Panama Canal faces the prospect of transit and loading limitations becoming a regular feature of all-water transits to eastern North America, while a shift of trade out of China increasingly favors Suez Canal routings in the longer-term, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificNorth American ports

Kuehne + Nagel sees no inflection point yet for global freight recovery

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The world’s largest ocean forwarder by volume said that despite an uptick in container freight during the third quarter, many customers still have too much inventory on hand from prior years.
ForwardingContainer Shipping NewsTrans-Pacific

Retailers pivot in fast-moving trans-Pacific as carriers accelerate blank sailings

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Facing the prospect of low-single-digit volume growth through the Lunar New Year in February, carriers so far this month have effectively reduced almost 22% of trans-Pacific capacity through blank sailings, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis.
MaritimeContainer linesTrans-Pacific

Sharing cost burden remains powerful obstacle to shipping decarbonization

Peter Tirschwell |
As activity heats up around decarbonization, there remains the stubborn fact that an unofficial law of container shipping, which dictates that shippers will always seek the lowest price or at the very least cost parity with peers, is exerting powerful resistance to the forces of climate progress.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

THE Alliance culls US, Europe services amid weak Southeast Asia import demand

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The latest service suspensions signal that US and European demand for some Asia-sourced consumer goods will remain tepid following the record spending splurge of the previous two years.
Container linesContainer Shipping NewsNorth American portsInternational ports

DSV signs onto $10 billion JV linked to Saudi-backed NEOM port project

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The announcement was made simultaneously with the forwarder releasing its nine-month financial results that reflected softening air and ocean markets, dragging down profitability from last year’s record performance.
ForwardingMaritimeInternational portsAir Cargo

Carrier wants SSA Marine to refund $9 million in Long Beach congestion fees

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The FMC complaint is atypical in that it’s an ocean carrier challenging fees rather than a cargo owner, forwarder or trucker pushing back against detention and demurrage charges.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

Automakers resort to shipping cars in containers amid ro/ro capacity shortage

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Ports in the US are reporting an unusual spike in the number of cars crossing their docks in containers, rather than via roll-on/roll-off vessels.
Ro/ro cargoContainer Shipping News

Trans-Pac ships tapping Lázaro Cárdenas amid Panama draft limits

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Mexico’s second-largest port is being added as regular and irregular call to trans-Pacific services due to draft restrictions and increasing availability of intermodal rail.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer lines

Hapag-Lloyd enters Brazil feeder market amid cabotage deregulation

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
Forwarders in Brazil say Hapag-Lloyd’s entrance into the feeder market through a joint venture will inject competition amid an easing of the country’s cabotage rules.
Container linesInternational ports