Container shipping

With a significantly shorter peak season expected this year, the ability of carriers to match capacity to demand will be tested over the next six months as they seek to keep spot rates from dipping below contract levels.

New and expanded auto imports landing at the Northwest Seaport Alliance come as carriers take advantage of its proximity to Asian ports during a time of scarce ro/ro tonnage.

With European parliamentary elections set for early June 2024, road and rail lobby groups have emphasized the urgency of getting the latest freight transport measures adopted.

Research by ECU Worldwide found that about half of ocean freight bookings are made via email, highlighting the importance of connecting booking platforms to email systems.

Retailers and NVOs aren’t sure if spot rates will continue to increase steadily through the peak season or whether new capacity expected to enter the trans-Pacific in the coming months will cause rates to fall again.

The rejection of last week’s tentative contract deal by a caucus of ILWU Canada narrows the prospects of a resolution without one imposed by Parliament through back-to-work legislation.

Sedna’s approach of allowing companies to retain their email systems while extending their value has won new forwarding and bulk customers and a fresh capital infusion.

Freight forwarder sources in India believe the success of a fourth round of general rate increases scheduled for Aug. 1 will hinge on the ability of carriers to hold firm on recent pricing gains.

Part of the new dynamic on the waterfront reflects wider transportation labor activism where rail, aviation, trucking and longshore workers have achieved or are seeking to achieve substantial enhancements in pay and work rules, writes Peter Tirschwell.

Ocean carriers are showing a lack of urgency to blank sailings even as China’s exports weaken and new vessels continue to come online.

The fall hid some upbeat trends, with the number of refrigerated containers rising more than 10% in the first half and the rate of decline in overall volumes easing in the second quarter.

A return to normal freight demand is part of the reason for layoffs across the logistics technology sector, but just as important is investor focus on cost controls and a path to profitability.

It’s easy to paint developments in the global shipping market as extreme, but when context is provided, the market is on many levels almost boringly normal at present, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Most of the landscape for container rate management vendors has focused on tools for forwarders, leaving a gap in software targeting shippers.

The expected declines followed a drop in demand for marine containers due to weakened economic and trade growth this year, both companies said in filings to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The carrier’s CEO said the company would continue to “actively manage and rationalize” its fleet and services during the current downturn in the global shipping market.

The new trade pattern reflects in large part a sharp drop in empty equipment imports amid weakening demand conditions, rather than sustained export trade, industry observers say.

The ships add to the growing order backlog of methanol-powered container ships that currently total at least 100 vessels, equivalent to about 12% of vessels on order, according to ship brokers.

The doom and gloom regarding cargo diverted away from the US West Coast during recent labor strife may have been excessive, as importers are not eager to permanently adopt higher-cost routings when a reliable lower-cost option with reasonable service exists, writes analyst Larry Gross.

US businesses may have passed the inventory peak, but data shows stockpiles remain high, and a weak wholesale retail market is depressing imports and surface freight shipments.

Delaware’s Port of Wilmington received an improved offer from a stevedoring firm to take over operations, but the bid faces a challenge from Holt, who claims the search process was unfair.

Three new visibility products — from a hardware provider, a forwarder and a data provider — are evidence of a diverse cargo visibility market that is expanding options for shippers.

A variety of technology providers are aiming to arm forwarders with AI-backed tools that help with areas like customer service and rate quoting, while others are focused on technology enabling internal operational efficiency.

The problems flared in recent weeks after Ocean Network Express shifted a vessel service out of Jacksonville’s other primary container terminal, Dames Point, causing a volume imbalance between the two terminals.

 The carrier is the target of another shipper complaint regarding demurrage and detention fees, this time the indirect result of empty container congestion at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The Global Port Tracker says prospects for a recession in the second half of the year are dimming and imports should increase as consumer demand ticks up and retailers reduce the inventory overhang that has kept warehouses full over the past year.

The London meeting of the IMO’s environment committee has upgraded its emissions goals, but it is only the starting point in a long and difficult decarbonization journey.

Although there remain multiple obstacles to further legislation being signed into law, bipartisan support that shipping reform attracted in 2021 and 2022 has led to a situation in which certain additional provisions stand at least a 50-50 chance of being enacted this year, writes Peter Tirschwell.

The Singapore-based carrier’s multi-billion-dollar investment plan into terminals, new ships and decarbonization is meant to secure the right assets in the right areas to keep it in the black.

Deeper public-private sector collaboration between global maritime industry players and the MPA will unlock key investments across the Indian and Pacific oceans, Lloyd’s Register believes.

Ocean carriers are pulling a variety of levers, such as cancelled services, new port calls and slow steaming, to keep ships on the water in the face of weak demand.

Ocean Network Express said container operations on three vessels were affected by the disruption, but that loading and unloading had now been completed.

While the International Maritime Organization battles to reach agreement on a global carbon levy, the huge cost of compliance with Europe’s market-based carbon levies is becoming clearer.

The long-anticipated wave of container ship newbuildings will hit the water by the end of August, despite a weak cargo market that threatens to keep the new ships underutilized.

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.

The carrier is attempting to stem the spot rate slide in a weak demand-high-capacity environment that has seen freight prices fall more than 80% from the record highs of early last year.

The carrier accelerated its reach into the direct shipper market during the pandemic when access to vessel space was severely limited, but as demand slows and capacity grows, the company may need to increase its forwarder business.

The pressure is on the Trudeau government to use its political capital to force a deal between employers and longshore workers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert after the latter began a strike Saturday.

Growing partnerships between software vendors and integrators with expertise in their solutions and their customers systems highlight the importance of the technological plumbing that underpins logistics networks.

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.