Maersk will return to the Suez route on its Middle East Container Line (MECL) service on both directions from January 2026. The service calls at Mundra, Pipavav, Nhava Sheva, Salalah, New York, Charleston, Savannah, Houston, Norfolk, New York, Tangier Med, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Mundra. Based on current pro-forma schedules, the service will turn in 13 weeks using 13 ships of 6,000 to 7,200 teu, with just a 1 week reduction in total turnaround time despite the shorter Suez route compared to the pre

Ellerman will launch a new Baltic Express Service (BALTEX) from 28 January 2026 calling at Riga, Gdynia, Teesport, Tilbury, Rotterdam, Oslo, Riga. The service turns in 14 days and will deploy the 803 teu KRISTIN SCHEPERS and 966 teu NOVA.

Register Free Trial The early market momentum have weakened after freight rates faltered last week, with sharp declines in rates to South America, Oceania and the Middle East. Rates from China to Mexico have recorded the sharpest declines after dropping by more than 65% since early September. Carriers are also rolling back the rate hikes on the Asia-Europe and transpacific routes following China’s decision to remove value added tax rebates from 1 April for several key export products including

North Sea Container Line (NCL) will launch a new Oslofjord service connecting Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Oslo, Brevik, Bremerhaven from 1 February 2026 using the 1,025 teu TUNADAL. The new service will complement NCL's existing North Continent-Norway feeder services that connects Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Rotterdam to the Norwegian outports using 3 ships of 600 to 1,200 teu.

Register Free Trial Developments in Venezuela over the weekend will have little impact on the container markets as total container throughput at Venezuela’s ports have dropped significantly since 2012 when it reached a peak of 1.57m TEU. Total volumes handled at Venezuela have dropped to less than 500,000 TEU per annum since 2019 and currently accounts for just 0.5% of total Latin American container volumes. The potential recovery in trade volumes post-Maduro will take several years to be reali

CMA CGM will take launch a new US East Coast-Oceania KEA service connecting Sydney, Melbourne, Port Chalmers, Tauranga, Manzanillo, Cartagena, Philadelphia, Charleston, Balboa, Tauranga, Sydney from 3 February 2026 through slots on Maersk's Oceania America (OC1) service. The OC1 service turns in 77 days using 11 ships of 3,000 to 3,700 teu operated by Maersk. Hapag-Lloyd and MSC also take slots on this service that are branded respectively as the Australia-New Zealand via Panama (ANP) service a

Register Free Trial Container freight rates enjoyed a mini year end rally with the SCFI rising by 6.7% in the last reading of 2025 while the CCFI increased by a more modest 2.0%. Despite the recent rate strength, average 4th quarter CCFI rates remain 10.7% lower than the 3rd quarter and the current quarter’s rates is at the lowest level in 2 years with carriers’ earnings already under pressure. CMA CGM has started to send their ships back o the Suez route as scheduled from last week on their e

CMA CGM has added a new South American feeder service branded as the Motagua Express calling at Kingston, Puerto Cortes, Puerto Barrios, Pointe a Pitre, Kingston from 31 December 2025. The service turns in 3 weeks and deploys the 1,740 teu PERITO MORENO, 1,841 teu CMA CGM BALBOA and 1,341 teu LM ARES.

Asean Seas Line (ASL) and China United Lines (CUL) have launched a new intra-Asia service calling at Nansha, Shekou, Laem Chabang, Bangkok (PAT & Sahathai), Laem Chabang, Nansha from 28 December 2025. The service is branded by ASL and CUL respectively as the Bangkok Thailand Express 2 (BTX2) and New SCT Express (NSX) and turns in 2 weeks using the 1,781 teu ASL HAIPHONG and 1,930 teu CUL LAEM CHABANG.

HMM will revive the former Korea Vietnam Express (KVX) and add a new Korea Indonesia Service (KIS) to replace its current Intra Cross Network (ICN) butterfly service. The new KVX will call at Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Ho Chi Minh City, Sihanoukville, Laem Chabang, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Busan using 4 ships of 1,800 teu on a weekly frequency starting with the 1,875 teu HMM HARMONY at Busan on 30 December 2025. The KIS will call at Incheon, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Jakarta, Surabaya, Incheo

Greta Shipping has launched a new China-Gulf Express 1 (CGX1) service connecting Qingdao, Ningbo, Jebel Ali, Qingdao from 24 December 2025. The service is scheduled to turn in 42 days using a single ship, the 1,831 teu CSTAR VOYAGER. The service will connect at Jebel Ali on its new Kuwait Feeder Service (KWF) that is operated jointly with Hapag-Lloyd, replacing its former Jebel Ali-Karachi Express (JKX) service from 15 December 2025. The new KWF calls at Jebel Ali, Shuaiba, Shuwaikh, Jebel Ali,

Greta Shipping will launch a new Red Sea 1 (RS1) service connecting Salalah, Djibouti, Salalah from 3 January 2026. The service will operate weekly initially using the 1,030 teu BHAGYA LAXMI for 3 weeks and is scheduled to be replaced by the 1,730 teu GRETA STAR from 24 January 2026.