Category Archives: News & Events

By Alexander Whiteman 15/12/2023 Maersk has told all vessels intending to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice. The Strait is at the entrance to the Red Sea, the approach lane to the Suez Canal. The line told customers: “We are monitoring the situation constantly and retrieving all available intelligence on […]

By Mike Wackett 11/12/2023 Ocean carriers are mostly holding the line on the huge mid-December and 1 January Asia-North Europe GRIs (general rate increases), and appear to have finally turned the corner with their rate restoration drive. Encouraged somewhat by the carriers themselves, for the past few months several China-based forwarders have been undercutting agreed rates with […]

By Mike Wackett 05/12/2023 With container spot rates below ocean carrier unit operating costs on some routes, shipping lines are increasingly focusing on billing customers with a myriad of surcharges to boost revenue in what is predicted to be a tough period. In addition to the baffling EU Emission Trading System (ETS) surcharges carriers trading to and […]

Airline has hundreds of excess pilots as freight volumes contract Eric Kulisch·Sunday, November 05, 2023 FedEx Express is encouraging pilots at its cargo airline to take jobs at a regional passenger carrier because there isn’t enough shipping demand to fill everyone’s flying schedules. It’s the latest step over the past 12 months to align FedEx’s […]

In addition to layoffs, 2023-2024 capital expenditures slashed by $3.5B Greg Miller·Friday, November 03, 2023 Maersk, the world’s second-largest ocean carrier, revealed Friday that it is “intensifying” job cuts in light of the “worsening market conditions” in ocean shipping. “Given the challenging times ahead, we accelerated several cost and cash containment measures,” said Vincent Clerc, […]

By Gavin van Marle 31/10/2023 Container shipping lines are set to see another spike in costs next year after the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced that it would increase fees on northbound transits by 15%. The same hikes, which will will take effect on 15 January, also apply to all other types of vessel except ro-ro ships, […]

By Mike Wackett 18/10/2023 The amount of containership capacity idled has surged again, the latest survey from Alphaliner reporting 315 vessels (1.18 million teu) in lay-up, representing 4.3% of the global fleet. In its fortnightly review of the inactive container vessel fleet, the consultant recorded a big jump from the 271 ships, for 942,035 teu, shown as […]

By Mike Wackett 11/10/2023 2M alliance partners MSC and Maersk will revert to a reduced “winter schedule” coverage for Asia–North Europe until December to mitigate the impact of falling demand and the continued erosion of freight rates on the route. From the end of this month, the 2M will blank the sailing of an Asia–North Europe loop […]

Panama Canal restrictions are rerouting LPG shipping flows Panama Canal restrictions are already forcing ships to take multi-week detours via the Suez Canal and Cape of Good Hope. One shipping segment is more exposed to these reroutings than any other: specialized tankers that carry liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the U.S. to Asia. America is […]

June 21, 2022 – May 29, 2023Since the implementation of UFLPA, CBP stopped 4,269 shipments valued at over $1.39 billion for UFLPA reviews and enforcement actions. This is a huge milestone for CBP.•679 (16%) shipments valued over $40 million were denied entry into U.S.commerce.•1,608 (38%) shipments valued over $643 million were released into U.S. commerce.•In […]