Top 40 Container Carriers

CMA CGM has followed the industry trend of reporting extreme profitability for 2021, dramatically paring down debt while making several billion-dollar acquisitions.

The Pilot Freight acquisition gives Maersk not just last-mile delivery capabilities, but the “middle-mile” backbone needed to speed freight to the final mile.

The $1.6 billion acquisition of Pilot Freight Services gives Maersk greater power to integrate ocean, air, and land-based services from the first to last mile.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. sat on top of the rankings for ocean carriers handling US imports while its 2M partner Maersk was top carrier on the export side.

A detention case involving Evergreen Shipping, Yamaha Motor, and a drayage provider is drawing the attention of the Federal Maritime Commission, which is reviewing the application of its detention and demurrage rules.

The Federal Maritime Commission will take a deep look into the detention and demurrage practices in Southern California and New York and New Jersey, requiring ocean carriers and maritime terminal operators to answer questions about their policies related to importers and exporters.

Shippers may see intermodal savings evaporate in the first quarter if rail contracts rise more than 10 percent and spot truck rates continue to cool off and pressure truck contracts.

The Port of Virginia has gained a weekly service that will be the loop’s only US stop from Northern Europe and the port’s first-ever direct connection for exporters to the Caribbean.

The FMC will look into whether ocean carriers are incorrectly holding truckers, third-party logistics, and freight forwarders responsible for penalties that should be paid by the shipper.

Only eight of the JOC Top 40 Container Carriers by US Imports managed to increase volumes in the first five months of the year, none of which belong to one of the three major vessel-sharing alliances.

Container lines have displayed an ability to flex capacity in response to short-term demand changes, and this strategy has paid off across the board despite stunted volumes in the second quarter.

HMM will be switching from BNSF Railway to Union Pacific Railroad in August, a move that allows it to prioritize efficient inland movement of containers within THE Alliance.

The National Industrial Transportation League said its members do not rely on the publication of essential contract terms, eliminating the need for carriers to make such filings.

With tensions on the rise, groups representing ocean carriers and truck companies are open to meeting to resolve their differences on chassis.

The Port of Virginia will temporarily suspend container operations in the Portsmouth Marine Terminal beginning May 3, a result of the dropoff in volume due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

A coalition of 80 agricultural shippers is urging the Trump administration to get involved in the detention and demurrage debate now before the Federal Maritime Commission, saying the issue is even more important now amid supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

CMA CGM has joined the gray pool in Memphis, a win for those advocating for truckers to use any chassis for any container to eliminate chassis splits and other inefficiencies that cost shippers money.

COSCO Shipping and OOCL again handled the largest share of US container imports from Asia in 2019, while CMA CGM and APL maintained the top spot in westbound US–Asia trade, despite declining overall volumes.

Carriers’ growing experience in reducing short-term capacity without having to resort to more disruptive actions like eliminating full services is a profound change in the market that will help the carriers absorb blows that in the past would wipe away profits like a dustrag.

With growth in trade between Asia and North America projected to continue at a slow, steady pace in 2020, container carriers will be focused on keeping a floor on rates and recouping the added cost of low-sulfur fuels.

Cargo no-shows are down 75 percent on freight booked via the Maersk Spot guaranteed online booking platform, according to the container carrier.

Despite reporting a profitable second quarter, the Japanese container carrier has reduced its full-year earnings forecast by nearly one-third, citing concerns over a worsening global economic environment and an expected increase in bunker costs.

Container carriers in the slowing US import and export trades are exercising increased discipline, maintaining capacity levels rather than introducing new vessels in an attempt to secure a larger share of the market.

Carrier market share in the trans-Pacific is not expected to change much in the next few months, in part because carriers will manage capacity by blanking individual sailings and deploying extra-loader vessels to handle import surges.

It was a modest second quarter result, but Maersk Line continues to improve its profitability by improving reliability and resisting any temptation to chase market share.

Evergreen Marine has plunged deeper into the mega-ship operating space, ordering another 11 ships in addition to the 11 that are already being built and delivered.

Carriers are going beyond setting up logistics arms and instead making the end-to-end reach a full company play rather than standalone attempt to offer the higher value and margin services as the NVOs they compete and partner with.

Carriers and shippers alike must adapt to the new realities of a container shipping market in which only a handful of large players control the vast majority of capacity.

Spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific this week got a pop from the pending July 1 GRIs, but economists are predicting a slow-growth year for the US economy, and carriers’ only hope to keep pricing from declining this peak season is to manage capacity through blank sailings.

The shipping sector is lacking investments in effective carbon reducing technologies, threatening to miss IMO 2050 targets for decarbonization, according to a recent report from CDP.

The 90-day suspension from the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism means the container line will no longer enjoy “trusted trader” status, increasing the likelihood of import shipment delays.

After years of undercutting each other on rates to gain market share and the resulting waves of consolidation, large container carriers seem to have come to a realization that they will sink or swim together.

The Ocean Alliance’s announcement of three blank sailings in June puts carriers and BCOs on alert that additional cancellations are likely if shipments from China continue to drop in the coming months.

The French shipping group will rationalize its container carrier brands, with APL serving the trans-Pacific, Asia-Indian Subcontinent, Asia-Oceania, and US-flag trades, ANL focusing on Oceania, and CNC on intra-Asia.

A proposal to impose mandatory speed limits on ocean vessels faces an uncertain future after being tabled at last week’s meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee.

In the latest step in the ocean carrier’s transformation into a “global integrator” of container logistics, Maersk Line has folded in the inland services formerly operated by APM Terminals.

Digital Container Shipping Association officials say improving standards around cargo visibility is a top priority of the new carrier coalition.

The European Commission is eyeing Cosco’s deepening reach into the European port sector, as well as the broader issue of state subsidies to Asia-based carriers and shipyards.

Adding five new members may give the Digital Container Shipping Association the quorum needed to press forward with the development of standard data protocols.

The Chinese state-run ocean carrier and fellow Asia-based lines are slowly revealing plans that tilt toward deeper logistics services beyond conventional ocean shipping, with a distinctive Asian focus.