CMA CGM and its intra-Asia arm, CNC will extend the Bohai Manila Express (BMX) service to South Korea with new calls at Busan from 15 May 2025. The extended BMX will call at Busan, Dalian, Xingang, Qingdao, Xiamen, Shantou, Shekou, Hong Kong, Nansha, Manila(N/S), Davao, Busan turning in 35 days using 5 ships of 2,700 teu to 4,600 teu.
Register Free Trial Ocean freight traffic slowed over the past week across Asia due to the Labour Day holidays but average freight rates largely held their ground despite the continuing market turmoil triggered by the US tariffs. Transpacific rates bucked the downward pressure as carriers moved swiftly to remove excess capacity that allowed them to secure rate hikes in both the spot and contract markets, although the rate strength is due more to an anticipated cargo surge if a Sino-US trade dea
MSC will split its North Europe-Asia-US West Coast Swan-Sentosa service into 2 separate services with the Asia-North Europe service renamed as the Swan that will call at Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yantian, Singapore, Sines, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Aarhus, Hamburg, Antwerp, Port Klang, Singapore, Shekou, Busan from May 2025 with the Cape routing retained. The Yokohama call on the former Swan-Sentosa service will be dropped, along with eastbound calls at Laem Chabang and Vung Tau.
MSC will downgrade its Far East-US West Coast transpacific network to just 3 sailings per week, with the Orient service withdrawn from May 2025. It follows the earlier the suspension of the Mustang service launch in February. The Orient service called at Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, Oakland, Busan, Qingdao turning in 6 weeks using up to 6 ships of 8,000 to 15,000 teu. The last sailing was made by the 14,952 teu MSC ORION that departed from Busan from 21 April 2025 and 11,037 teu CAPE
SITC will launch a new Far East-India Express 3 (FIE3) service from 10 May 2025 calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Batam, Haldia, Shanghai. The new FIE3 service will turn in 4 weeks and will deploy 4 ships of 1,700-1,800 teu starting with the 1,781 teu SITC JUNDE at Shanghai on 10 May 2025.
SITC will launch a new China Malaysia Express (CMX) service from 13 May 2025 calling at Shekou, Kuantan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou. The CMX will turn in 4 weeks and will deploy 4 ships of 1,032-1,150 teu starting with the 1,032 teu SITC HAKATA at Shekou on 13 May 2025. The service retains the current port rotation of the current Malaysia-India-Myanmar (MIM) service with the name changed to reflect the omission of India and Myanmar. The 4 ships of 1,700-1,800 teu on the MIM service is re
Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) and ONE will launch a new Spain Turkey Service 2 (ST2) from 10 May 2025 calling at Algeciras, Valencia, Barcelona, Alexandria, Damietta, Aliaga, Izmit, Algeciras. The service will turn in 3 weeks and will deploy 3 ships of 1,400-1,600 teu starting with the 1,440 teu CAPT. KATTELMANN at Damietta on 10 May 2025.
Carrier are pushing ahead with transpacific rate hikes in May despite the severe drop in Chinese volumes that has forced carriers to slash Transpacific capacity by over 20% while capacity utilization on the remaining services are down by more than 5%. The reduction in the cargo flow to the US will start to impact arrivals in May, raising the likelihood of an imminent Sino-US trade deal that could trigger a sharp rebound in Chinese cargo bookings to the US. This has helped carriers’ bid to hike t
Shanghai–North Europe EC freight futures remain in retreat as carriers continued to lower their FAK rate quotations. Maersk and ONE have reduced their offers for early May shipments to $1,650 per FEU, with even lower rates offered by Maersk this week at $1,450 per FEU for mid-May shipments. These moves are expected to prompt further selling by futures traders over the coming week, even after the SCFIS dropped by 5.2% on 28 April. The EC2506 contract that expires in June now trades at a 3% disco
Asia-Europe freight rates weakened across the board, with carriers dropping rates to less than $1,600-$1,800/feu in April and early May. Cargo volumes are expected to drop in the next 2 weeks with Vietnam celebrating the 50th anniversary of its reunification on 30 April followed by the Labour Day holidays across Asia on 1 May. Port congestion remains very serious in Benelux, German and UK ports that have been made worse by the Easter holidays but this has not been sufficient to stop the rate de