Global port congestion eased last week as activity at ports across Far East Asia slowed down due to the Chinese New Year holidays. There is little disruptions reported so far for the transition to the new Alliance networks that started from 1 February that will affect 6 out of the Top 10 carriers. However, as a large number of blanked sailings have been planned for the first 2 weeks of February, the full impact of the transition will only be apparent from mid-February. Congestion at North Europ
Register Free Trial The US will impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% from China from 4 February 2025, with no room for shippers to front load their cargo as only goods that are already in transit to the US before 1 February 2025 will be exempted. These moves will do little to reverse the worsening container trade imbalance in the US, with imports continuing to outpace exports by 2.4 times last year compared to 1.8 times in 2017 before import tariffs were in
SeaLead has launched a new Red Sea-India (RESIN) service calling at Jeddah, Sokhna, Nhava Sheva, Jeddah from 23 January 2025. The service turns in 3 weeks and will deploy 3 ships of 1,600-2,000 teu starting with the 1,660 teu GHIBLI at Jeddah on 23 January 2025.
Unimed has introduced a new Turkey-Bulgaria feeder service calling at Ambarli, Burgas, Varna, Izmit, Ambarli from 23 January 2025. The service will turn in 7 days on a weekly frequency using the 679 teu NINA A with the call at Izmit (Safiport Derince) omitted for the first 6 rotations and will start from 5 March 2025. CMA CGM and Zim will take slots on this service that is branded as the Intra Aegean Express (IAX1) and Turkiye Black Sea Line (TBL) respectively.
CMA CGM has launched a new Baltic Express (BLX) / Baltic Shuttle (PLX) service that connects Gdansk, Kotka, Riga, Gdansk from 20 January 2025. The BLX/PLX service will turn in 7 days with a weekly frequncy using the 907 teu JSP MISTRAL.
The crew of the 1,930 teu ASL BAUHINIA has abandoned the containership in the Red Sea on 28 January 2025 after it caught fire following an explosion on board the vessel. The 2022 built ship is owned by Asean Seas Line and time chartered by Emirates Shipping Lines since October 2024. It is currently deployed on the Gulf Red Sea Connector (EGRC) service that connects Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Aqaba, Sokhna, Jebel Ali and had left Jebel Ali on 22 January and was scheduled to arrive at Jeddah on 29 Januar
Fixture activity has remained brisk with both extensions and new charters still fuelling the charter market rally with rates still strengthening apart from the 1,100 teu and smaller segments where there is sufficient availability to meet existing demand. For larger sizes, including the 1,700 teu segment, vessel availability remains extremely tight in the short term and charter rates will remain firm until this situation changes. With all of the main carriers still retaining the Cape routing in
Severe weather conditions and high pre-Lunar New Year cargo volumes have driven port congestion to a new 3 month high. A surge in the number of ships waiting at anchorages across Asia, Europe and North America has pushed the total capacity affected by port congestion globally to 3.3m teu or 10.5% of the fleet. Chinese ports are extremely congested in the run up to the holidays next week, with both the Yangtze River ports and Pearl River delta ports recording a significant surge in gate and bert
EC freight futures recovered most of their YTD losses last week in active trading with volumes rebounding by 23% while open interest shrunk by 17% as some traders closed their short positions ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. The International Energy Exchange (INE), where EC contracts are listed, will be closed from 28 January to 4 February. End February contracts (EC2502) remained largely unchanged and now trades at an 18% discount to latest spot rates after the SCFIS slipped by a furthe
Although freight futures rallied last week on a potential breakdown in the Middle East peace deal, it has not stopped spot rates from sliding further. Maersk has fired another fresh salvo with further rate cuts in for shipments to North Europe, dropping its online FAK quotation to $2,500 per FEU from $2,800 for shipments scheduled to depart after 10 February. Current spot rates to North Europe have dropped by $250/FEU in the past week to around $3,000/FEU. The relentless pressure in the spot ma