Medkon has launched a new Beirut Express Service (BEX) connecting Damietta, Beirut, Mersin/Iskenderun, Damietta. The service is operated with the 381 teu T-MOON since October 2024 and will be replaced in January 2025 with the 353 teu MEDKON KRM.
The EC contracts rose today in anticipation of a strike at the US East Coast ports, following Trump's announcement that he would side with the labor union. However, the government's support for labor may mean that liners will have to make concessions, making a strike even less likely. The recent increase in average vessel utilization for FE-WCNA and the decrease for FE-ECNA suggest that cargo owners may have already begun shifting their east coast-bound shipments to vessels heading to the west c
Selling pressure on EC contracts continued today, with longer-dated contracts underperforming. This indicates that the primary driver at this point is the incremental changes in the Middle East as it moves toward a ceasefire deal. EC traders remain hopeful for one more round of freight rate increases in the FE-N.EUR before the CNY holidays. The utilization moving average ticked up slightly due to a couple of fully loaded vessels (APL CHANGI and ESTELLE MAERSK) that departed the Straits of Sing
EC contracts continued to decline throughout the day due to the possibility of a ceasefire following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Near-term contracts continue to outperform, fueled by hopes of another round of freight rate increases in December. Average utilization remained largely unchanged overnight. Evergreen and HMM raised their quotes by a few hundred dollars for shipments departing in the second half of December.
OOCL and Yang Ming will jointly launch a new China-Laem Chabang (CHL2)/China-Thailand Express (CTE) service connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Nansha, Laem Chabang, Shekou, Shanghai from 10 January 2025. The CHL2/CTE will turn in 3 weeks and will deploy 3 ships of 2,700 teu with OOCL's 2,782 teu DEAR PANEL and SYMEON P, both chartered from Euroseas who will join the service at Shanghai on 10 January and 24 January respectively upon delivery from the Hyundai Mipo shipyard while Yang Ming will
Taiwanese carriers reported lower revenues in November with a 11% month-over-month decline. Wan Hai registered a relatively smaller sequential drop of -3% which was in line with the CCFI’s fall while Yang Ming fell by 8% and EMC dropped by 13%. SEAFI cover Freight Rates for Shanghai to ASEAN Based Ports. Source: SSE
EC futures dropped across the board over the past week, with the earlier exuberance over the December rate hikes cooling off as spot market rates settle into a tighter range which will likely hold for the rest of the month before carriers attempt another round of rate hikes on 1 January. The SCFIS rose by 7.2% in the latest 9 December release to reach 3,033 points, but EC2412 still trades at a 12% premium at 3,398 with possible downside pressure as the mid-December rate increases appear to have
Asia-North Europe spot rates stabilized last week with rates settling into a tighter range of between $5,200 to 5,600 per FEU. The SCFI slipped marginally by 0.3% on Friday after the 22.5% surge the previous week, reflecting the roll back from the higher rates that carriers had initially targeted from the 1 Dec rate hike. The lagging SCFIS index rose by 7.2% on 9 December as the higher rates are registered. The current rates are expected to largely hold through until the end of the month, with
The containership charter rates remain firm with limited availability in all segments. Gemini Cooperation partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are still scrambling to assemble sufficient ships for the launch of their new joint services starting in February 2025 with more than 20 open vessel slots still to be filled. The published schedules for February shows a large number of blanked sailings that will coincide with the port Chinese New Year slack period, but also reflects the partners’ tonnage short
Port congestion rebounded sharply over the past week with both Chinese and North European ports experiencing severe delays. The Yangtze River delta ports of Shanghai and Ningbo are experiencing a significant surge in the number of ships waiting at anchorages, with the situation in Shanghai being particularly bad due to high vessel traffic and weather related delays. North European main port congestion has also worsened with very high yard occupancy reported in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and So