Medkon Lines have upgraded its new Bulgaria-Romania (BRO) Shuttle service that connects Ambarli, Gebze, Varna, Constanta, Ambarli with larger tonnage introduced in July 2023. The BRO service was introduced in 24 May 2023 with the 353 teu MEDKON KRM, which has been replaced on 13 July 2023 by the 652 teu MEDKON GEMLIK to provide higher capacity to serve the Bulgaria and Romania markets.
Medkon Lines have upgraded its Turkey-Spain-Tunisia-Italy (TST) service with the addition of a second ship in a partnership with Admiral Container Lines. The Medkon TST service was launched on 14 April 2023 and calls at Ambarli, Gebze, Gemlik, Aliaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Rades, Taranto, Ambarli with the 704 teu MEDKON MERSIN. It will be complemented Admiral's 340 teu GRETA that has switched a new rotation from 26 June 2023 to call at Ambarli, Gebze, Gemlik, Aliaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Sfax
Milaha has added the 3,768 teu MAJD on the Nhava Sheva-Doha Express (NDX) service jointly operated with Feedertech and X-Press Feeders who brand the service as the NDX and Arabian Sea X-Press (ASX) respectively. The MAJD replaces the 3,158 teu X-PRESS ALTAIR and joins Feedertech's 4,294 teu NORTHERN GUARD on the service that calls at Mundra, Hazira, Nhava Sheva, Jebel Ali, Sohar, Mundra on a 14 day rotation.
Unifeeder has amended its Benelux-Baltics network with the launch of the E6 service that was started from 16 July to call at Rotterdam, Riga, Kotka, Rotterdam. The service turns in 10-14 days and deploys the 1,036 teu ELBWIND and SKALAR.
MSC has introduced a new Mersin Shuttle service that connects Beirut, Mersin, Beirut with the 1,704 teu MSC SILVER II starting from 16 July 2023.
Heung-A/Sinokor have extended its Haiphong-Busan Service 1 (HPS 1) to the Russia Far East since June 2023 with the revised rotation calling at Busan, Ulsan, Kwangyang, Hong Kong, Haiphong, Hong Kong, Shekou, Xiamen, Kwangyang, Busan, Vladivostok, Busan. The service will call at 2 terminals in Vlaidvostok - Vladivostok Fishery Port and Vladivostok Container Terminal (VCT). The HPS1 3 ships of 1,003 on a 3 week rotation - the HEUNG-A HAIPHONG, HEUNG-A XIAMEN, HEUNG-A AKITA.
Charters rates for smaller feeders below 3,000 teu continues to be under the most pressure with rates noticeably declining over the last 2 weeks as ready tonnage continues to build up in Asia. There has been several reports of deals failing on subjects across all sizes, with demand waning as freight markets continued to weaken. MSC has taken over its 349th resale unit since 2020 with the 1,740 teu X-PRESS COTOPAXI (renamed MSC PAXI II) joining the fleet. Chinese and Russian buyers remain activ
Shanghai port recorded a 2023 high in June, with container throughput reaching 4.15m teu with volumes following a more normal seasonal pattern after the turbulence in the last 2 years.
There has been a gradual build up of ships waiting at the Canadian west coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert as the ILWU Canada impasse stretches into a second week, with the total capacity of ships at the Puget Sound/British Colombia anchorages hitting 113,500 teu as at 9 July - the highest level since October 2022 but still well below the peak of over 300,000 teu recorded in early 2022. The situation remains fluid with more vessel diversions to US ports planned over the coming week. The
COSCO/OOCL and ONE will jointly launch a new East East South America-Europe service from 16 September 2023, branded respectively as the 'East Coast South America-Europe 2' (ESE2), 'Europe-East Coast South America Express' (EEX) and 'Latin-East-Coast Europe Express' (LUX). The ESE2/EEX/LUX service will call at Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Itapoa, Paranagua, Santos, Rio De Janeiro, Algeciras, Rotterdam, London Gateway, Hamburg, Antwerp, Lisbon, Algeciras, Santos, Paranagua, Montevideo using 9 ships