The underlying SCFIS index slumped by 19% on 17 February, reversing last week’s unexpected gains. The forward curve has returned to contango for the first time since November 2024, as EC freight futures strengthened over the past week with rates expected to rebound over the March to September period. Trading activity was mainly focused on the principal EC freight futures contract for April 2025 (EC2504) which rose 10% as both MSC and Maersk joined other carriers in raising their quotations for
Congestion in North Europe ports have come under the spotlight with a national strike in Belgium on 13 February adding to the labour dispute at ECT Rotterdam that remains unresolved while protests against pension reform in France have worsened the delays at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Le Havre respectively with vessels facing berthing delays of up to 5 days. UK ports continue to battle congestion with Felixstore also facing delays of up to 5 days while London Gateway and Southampton have seen delays
Register Free Trial Despite the geopolitical headwinds and rapidly falling freight rates, the container markets is getting some relief from the continued vessel diversions from the Red Sea and worsening port congestion that continues to build up in Europe. The European routes are expected to see a rate rebound in March, with freight futures back in contango as forward rates in the next 6 months are expected to rise above their current levels. But the momentum is weakening on the US routes as c
SeaLead will launch a new Mediterranean-USA (MEDUS) service connecting Mersin, Ambarli, Gebze, Aliaga, Casablanca, New York, Norfolk, Mersin from 29 March 2025. The MEDUS service will turn in 6 weeks and will operate initially on a fortnightly basis using 3 ships of 1,400 to 1,800 teu starting with the 1,440 teu CAPE FULMAR at Mersin on 29 March followed by the 1,809 teu ADRASTOS and 1,702 teu HAIAN ZETA.
Marsa Ocean Shipping has become the latest carrier to join the Asia-Med trade with the introduction of the 2,466 teu MARSA NEPTUNE to Far East-Mediterranean FEM1 service that is jointly operated by CStar Line, Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) and Uniglobal Shipping (UGL). The Marsa ship will join the FEM1 on 24 February 2025 at Qingdao, with the service to be upgraded to a weekly frequency from its previous irregular sailings. The FEM1 calls at Qingdao, Shanghai, Nansha, Jeddah, Ambarli, Evyap, Jed
The new OCEAN Alliance NEU3 Asia-North Europe service that was scheduled to start on 23 March 2025 with the 14,566 teu COSCO SHIPPING HIMALAYAS at Shanghai has been postponed. The new service is branded as AEU7 by COSCO, LL3 by OOCL, FAL7 by CMA CGM and NE7 by Evergreen. The inaugural sailing will call at Shanghai, Xiamen, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cai Mep, Singapore, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Valencia, Port Klang, Singapore with changes expected in subsequent sailings, as the original c
CMA CGM and Tarros will renew their current cooperation on the Mediterranean Pendulum Service (MPS)/Great Pendulum Service (GPS) in February 2025 following the departure of Arkas from their current joint service. The revised MPS/GPS service will call at Genoa, La Spezia, Barcelona, Casablanca, Leixoes, Setubal, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, La Spezia, Genoa, Salerno, Piraeus, Beirut, Mersin, Latakia, Alexandria, Salerno, Genoa from 23 February 2025. The service will turn in 6 weeks using 6 sh
ONE will launch a new Polish Shuttle (PLS) service connecting Hamburg, Rotterdam, Gdynia, Gdansk, Hamburg from 2 March 2025. The service will turn in 10-11 days, running 2 cycles every 3 weeks using the 1,118 teu BALLATA.
Hai An will launch a new Vietnam China Express (VCX) service connecting Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Nansha, Hong Kong, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City from 16 April 2025. The service will turn in 14 days and will deploy the 1,781 teu HAIAN ALFA and HAIAN BETA, with ONE taking slots on the service.
Container freight futures have rallied sharply, with December 2025 contracts surging by 53% over the past week as hopes for an early return of containerships to the Suez route fade. Since the 19 January ceasefire agreement in Gaza, there has been no ships diverted back to the Suez route with all main carriers retaining their Cape routing at least until March. The potential return of the diverted Suez ships would release up to 7% of the global containership capacity with the resumption of slow s