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
Taiwanese shipping lines saw a reversal in their monthly revenue, rising 6% month-on-month in January after six consecutive months of decline. Freight rates appear to have improved sequentially, as the CCFI overall index increased by 1% over the same period. However, the bulk of the revenue growth likely stemmed from volume, with preliminary port throughput data indicating a robust uptick in January.
The EC futures contracts continued to decline, accompanied by slightly lower trading volume. Open interest also began to decrease. Overnight, HMM reduced its quotation for February shipments to $2,200 per FEU, down from $2,400 per FEU. Utilization edged up with two above trend line sailings.
Interasia Lines (IAL), TS Lines (TSL) and Yang Ming (YM) will launch a new Japan-Taiwan-South China-Vietnam service calling at Osaka, Kobe, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Nansha, Shekou, Haiphong, Hong Kong, Shekou, Osaka from 17 March 2025. The service will be branded as the Japan-Haiphong Service (JHS) by IAL, Japan-Taiwan-Hong Kong 3 (JTK3) by TSL and Japan Kansai Express (JKX) by Yang Ming, turning in 3 weeks using the 1,708 teu INTERASIA FORWARD, 1,909 teu TS GUANGZHOU and 1,803 teu YM INAUGURATION.
The EC container freight futures dropped this morning on strong volume, as the relief rally from the previously bearish sentiment has completed. Traders will now need to see some level of success from the March 1 GRI to validate the 20-50% rally that occurred last week. Utilization for ships that departed this week remains at a decent level; however, the extremely light MSC VENICE has dragged down the moving average. Liners continue to reduce their online quotations overnight. CMA CMG join Hapa