Freight futures listed in Shanghai surged this morning, buoyed by a fresh influx of cash that pushed up every contract, as a blank sailing notice from MSC strengthened conviction in the market that freight rates have found a floor at around $2,000 per FEU. The MSC blank sailing will cancel four voyages, removing a total of 60,442 TEU—equivalent to 5% of the capacity deployed in October. Even after this reduction, the average weekly capacity for October will remain at 293,341 TEU. Buying intere
Register Free Trial The SCFI staged its first rebound after 11 consecutive weekly declines but the rebound will be short lived as freight rates will resume their downswing in the absence of capacity cuts by carriers. The market continues to be in a stand-off with the planned September rate hikes not expected to hold as carriers shift their focus to filing their excess vessel capacity and building up cargo roll pools ahead of the Golden Week holidays in China in October. While the freight rate
The Premier Alliance partners (HMM, ONE and Yang Ming) will suspend their Pacific South 5 (PS5) service, with the last sailing by the 4,992 teu NYK CONSTELLATION to depart from Ningbo on 8 September 2025. The PS5 service was launched in June 2025 and calls at Qingdao, Ningbo, Long Beach, Qingdao with ad hoc calls at Busan and Kobe. The service turns in 6 weeks using 3 ships of 4,600 to 4,900 teu on a fortnightly frequency since July 2025.
Newly established carrier Warisan Shipping Line (WSL) has launched a new Singapore Express Service connecting Singapore, Muara, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore from 4 August 2025 with the 1,118 teu JI YUN 16. The service turns in 12 days, with a second ship, the 602 teu JIFA BOHAI operating on a different port rotation that would include calls at Port Klang and Lahad Datu in Sabah. WSL was established in March 2025 in Brunei to provide shipping services in the ASEAN region.
WEC Lines will upgrade 2 of its existing services connecting the North Continent with Iberia/Canary Islands. The new NWC Portugal (NWC PT) will call at Rotterdam, Moerdijk, Antwerp, Vigo, Leixoes, Setubal, Montoir, Rotterdam, turning in 14 days using 2 ships of 1,000 teu (WEC VAN RIJN and WEC DE HOOGH) from 30 August 2025. The NWC Canary Islands (NWC CAI) will call at Hamburg, Thamesburg, Moerdijk, Bilbao, Vigo, Leixoes, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz, Sines, Hamburg, turning in 21 days using 3 ships
Freight futures contracts listed in Shanghai continued to decline. Trading volume remains steady but low, while open interest continues to rise. The main news concerns ONE reducing its quotation for shipments by $200 to $2,143 per FEU, and Hapag Lloyd lowering its rate for shipments departing in the last week of September by $200 to $1,835 per FEU.
Freight futures contracts in Shanghai experienced a sharper decline today compared to the average movements of the past two months, as traders showed increased conviction. The drop remains primarily driven by short sellers, while some buyers who believe the market is nearing a bottom continue to step in. As a result, both short and long positions attracted fresh capital, leading to a rise in open interest.
MSC will launch a revised USA-West Africa-South Africa Express (USWASA Express), service from 1 October 2025, with the addition of new calls at West Africa to replace its current USA to South Africa service that it jointly operates with Maersk. The USWASA will call at New York, Baltimore, Savannah, Freeport, Lome, Durban, Coega, Cape Town, San Pedro, New York with an additional call at Philadelphia to added on a seasonal basis. The service will turn in 9 weeks and will deploy 9 ships of 2,500
Freight futures contract prices continued to decline in response to the liners’ latest pricing actions. The primary selling pressure emerged in the afternoon, with most contracts closing near their intraday lows. Liquidity fell further to 25,424 contracts—the lowest level since April 2024. Open interest edged up slightly.
The idle containership fleet has crept above 125,000 teu for the first time in 15 months, due to the removal of 12 ships linked to Iranian interests that have left the SeaLead fleet over the past 3 weeks. 4 of these ships are heading to Khor Fakkan, while the remaining ships are waiting for orders at Chinese and Malaysian anchorages after completing cargo discharge in China and Port Klang. 4 more ships are due to be redelivered by SeaLead in the coming week, with no immediate replacements to fil