Register Free Trial The SCFI rolled back all of the gains of the past 3 weeks as Transpacific rates collapsed under the weight of excess capacity. Freight rates to the US West Coast have recorded their largest weekly losses in the last 2 weeks as their failure to retain any of their 1 June rate hikes have also put the peak season surcharge for contract customers at risk. The early end to the transpacific peak season have not yet dragged down rates on the secondary routes that remain supported b
CMA CGM has upgraded the capacity of the ships deployed on its Asia-Med Phoenician Express (BEX2) service from the 8,500-11,500 teu scale to larger ships of 13,100-15,500 teu. The 13,136 teu CMA CGM COBALT was the first of the upsized ships to join the service on 26 March 2025, and has been followed by the larger 15,536 teu CMA CGM OSIRIS on 2 May 2025. The BEX2 service is the largest service on the Suez Canal, and the use of the larger ships will allow CMA CGM to enjoy the 15% discount on tran
Akkon's Turkey India (TIN) service has been extended to include calls at Karachi in a revised Turkey India Pakistan (TIP) service that calls at Ambarli, Aliaga, Iskenderun, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Karachi, Izmit, Gemlik, Ambarli. The TIP service turns in 35 days and deploys 2 to 3 ships of 1,700-2,000 teu on an irregular schedule.
RCL has launched a new RCL Calcutta Service 9 (RCH9) connecting Chu Lai, Port Klang (WP), Kolkata, Kattupalli, Chu Lai from 16 May 2025. The service turns in 25-28 days and deploys various ships of 800 teu to 1,000 teu on irregular schedules starting with the 1,018 teu CHANA BHUM at Chu Lai on 16 May 2025.
MSC has launched a new West Med to West Africa service connecting Genoa, Valencia, Las Palmas, Dakar, Tema, Lome, Abidjan, Dakar, Genoa from 17 June 2025. The service turns in 6 weeks using 6 ships of 1,700 to 2,800 teu starting with the 1,730 teu MSC PANAYA at Genoa on 17 June 2025.
Benchmark contract EC2508 dropped 7%, with the bulk of the decline coming in the afternoon session. Open interest rose by 4,279 lots, pointing to heightened conviction among short sellers. This sharp fall stands in stark contrast to recent moves by shipping lines, which have lifted near-term freight rates for the first time in weeks. MSC, for example, reversed course overnight, increasing its quotation from $2,640 to $3,240 per FEU. The only bearish signal overnight was a drop in vessel utilisa
Maersk’s spot rate of $3,400 per FEU for shipments departing on July 3rd, published in the afternoon of June 17th, elicited only a muted response in the next day ( June 18th): the EC2508 contract rose by a modest 3%, amid considerable liquidation that pushed open interest below 90,000. This morning (June 19th), MSC went further by slashing its rate for June 30th departures to just $2,640 per FEU—even as it maintained a July FAK rate of $4,092 per FEU. The sharp cut for near-term shipments sent
The freight futures market opened lower today but is slowly recovering, buoyed by anticipation of Maersk’s July shipment quotation. Released at 14:30, Maersk’s rate of $3,400 per FEU is significantly below CMA CGM’s $4,645 but still $500 higher than its offer for shipments leaving end of June. Vessel utilisation has improved modestly, though it remains well below the highs seen at the same time and November last year, and January this year.
Container vessel traffic in the Middle East remains unaffected by the escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict since 13 June with carriers maintaining their scheduled calls at Middle East Gulf and Israeli ports, while Suez transits have also been retained. Zim affirmed the continuation of its services to the Israeli ports of Ashdod and Haifa while CMA CGM is still proceeding to reroute 3 of their Europe-Indian subcontinent/Far East ships through the Suez this month despite the rising tensions. How
EC freight futures failed to retain the initial gains following Israel’s attack on Iran on 13 June with prices closing lower on 16 June as the market continues to assess the impact of the rising tensions in the Middle East. The prolonged closure of the Red Sea and higher fuel costs are expected to lead to keep freight rates elevated, the prospect of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could leave up to 3.4% of global container volumes stranded. Trading remained subdued throughout the past week a