No one was willing to make a move today, as all eyes are on what Maersk will offer for late-September shipments. With no fresh news to set the tone, most contracts moved higher on traders’ concerns that the market may have already bottomed. Trading volume was light today but open interests edged up by 927 contracts. As of the time this note was published, Maersk’s new offer had still not surfaced. However, after market close, OOCL posted a rate of $1,650 per FEU—down another $200 per FEU, which
The containership charter market shows no signs of cooling down despite the weakness in the freight market, as charter rates retained their recent strength. Open units continue to be snapped up quickly including several sublet candidates. CMA CGM was the most active charterer in the past week, including a sublet of the 5,527 teu ESL OMAN for up to 3 months at $62,000 per day with delivery scheduled for 30 September. MSC continues to focus on second hand purchases with 2 more resale units joinin
MSC announced its Golden Week blank sailings program at the start of last week, triggering a brief double-digit jump in EC futures prices and lifting daily trading volumes above 100,000 contracts for the first time since mid-July. However, open interest hovered at only 80,000 contracts with traders reluctant to hold large overnight positions. The much-anticipated Gemini announcement of its own blank sailing plan on 4 September disappointed with just a single sailing removed in October. Average
The Asia-North Europe rate slump received no respite after carriers abandoned the 1 Sept rate push and allowed rates to fall further as the SCFI rates dropped by 9.5% to $2,096/feu while the SCFIS fell by 11.7% in its sharpest weekly drop since February. Carriers’ reluctance to remove surplus capacity continues to be the bane of the market, with the limited Golden Week blank sailing program in early October a further sign the lack of discipline. Gemini carriers in particular will take out just
The number of new containerships ordered in the first 9 months of 2025 has reached 385 units for 3.36m teu. Full year numbers could match the record of 4.67m teu ordered in 2024 and 4.74m teu ordered in 2021 if the current pace of new ship contracting continues. The orderbook reached 32.2% of the operating fleet, and planned deliveries will hit 2.9m teu in 2027 and 3.8m teu in 2028. The new deliveries will far exceed the projected scrapping of older vessels in the coming 3 years. The widebeam
Register Free Trial \Although the composite SCFI index was unchanged last week, it masked conflicting performances across various key tradelanes with the Asia-Europe route slumping to its sharpest weekly decline since February while the Transpacific route showed surprising resilience and managed to hold on to most of its 1 September rate hikes. The resilience is not expected to last, with freight rates remaining under pressure due to the lack of capacity discipline. Golden Week blank sailing pr
Asean Seas Line (ASL) has extended its China-Hong Kong-Haiphong Express 1 (HHX1) service into an extended butterfly loop that incorporates the South China-Vietnam-Philippines 2 (SVP2) service. The extended HHX1/SVP2 service calls at Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen, Haiphong, Danang, Shekou, Nansha, Xiamen, Manila(S), Ningbo from September 2025, turning in 3 weeks using 3 ships of 1,182 teu - the CA OSAKA, CA MANILA and CA NAGOYA.
SITC has launched a new Far East-India Express (FIE) service connecting Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Haldia, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Incheon, Xingang from 4 September 2025. The FIE service turns in 42 days and deploys 6 ships of 2,400 teu starting with the 2,433 teu SITC CAGAYAN at Xingang on 4 September.
CMA CGM's intra Asia shipping arm, CNC will launch a new Japan Philippines 9 (JP8) service connecting Shekou, Nansha, Subic Bay, Batangas, Cebu, Davao, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe Moji, Shekou from 15 September 2025. The JP8 service will turn in 28 days and will deploy 4 ships of 1,700-1,800 teu starting with the 1,781 teu LITTLE DOLPHIN at Shekou on 15 September 2025 to be followed by the 1,827 teu ARIONAS and ASTERIOS, and the 1,756 teu KUO LIN.
SITC will launch a new Vietnam Thailand Express 7 (VTX7) service connecting Ningbo, Shanghai, Haiphong, Qinzhou, Laem Chabang, Sihanoukville, Ningbo from 7 October 2025. The VTX7 service will turn in 21 days and will deploy 3 ships of 1,000 teu starting with the 1,011 teu SITC TOKUYAMA at Ningbo on 7 October.