Register Free Trial The return to the Red Sea continues to gather pace, with Evergreen resuming their Suez transits starting from this week, becoming the last OCEAN Alliance partner to return to the Suez route. Yangming will be the next carrier to follow as it joins its Premier Alliance partners ONE and HMM on the Suez route from December. All 3 main carrier alliances along with MSC are set to make a full return to the Suez by the 1st quarter of 2027, leaving Zim as the only main carrier left o

The Premier Alliance's Asia Mediterranean 1 (MD1) service will resume Suez transits from December 2026, while adding a new call at Sokhna to cater for Asia-Red Sea cargo. The revised MD1 rotation will call at Ningbo, Shanghai, Shekou, Singapore, Sokhna, (Suez Canal), Damietta, Ambarli, Izmit, Mersin, Damietta, (Suez Canal), Singapore, Kaohsiung, Ningbo starting with the 11,714 teu YM TRUSt at Ningbo on 13 November 2026. The revised MD1 will turn in 84 days and will deploy 12 ships of 11,700 to

RCL has launched a new South China/Vietnam to East Coast of India service branded as the RCL Far East-Tuticorin (RFT) calling at Qinzhou, Haiphong, Tuticorin, Kattupalli, Chu Lai, Qinzhou that replaces its existing RCH9 service that operates on a shorter rotation calling at Chu Lai, Singapore, Kolkata, Kattupalli, Chu Lai. The revised rotation started from Qinzhou on 7 October 2026 with the 1,108 teu NAWATA BHUM, with a second ship MITRA BHUM joining the service from 13 November. The RFT servic

Evergreen will send its first ships to the Red Sea since January 2024 with the re-launch of its China-Red Sea service from 12 November 2026. The OGRD service will call at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Jeddah, Sokhna, Aqaba, Jeddah, Port Klang, Qingdao. The service will turn in 56 days but will initially only deploy 4 ships of 7,000-9,000 teu operating on a fortnightly basis starting with the 7,024 teu EVER SUPERB at Qingdao on 12 November 2026. The move will coincide with Evergr

Zim will re-launch its ZIM Central China Xpress 3 (ZX3) service with a revised port rotation calling at Xiamen, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Xiamen that is targeted at the premium expedited service segment with a 12 day transit time from Shanghai to LA and 15 days from Xiamen to LA. The ZX3 service will turn in 35 days using 5 ships of 4,250 teu starting from 5 December 2026 with the 4,253 teu MELINA at Xiamen followed by the 4,252 teu FELIXSTOWE on 12 December 2026. These ships are repositioning fro

Contship Italia, through its subsidiary Sogemar, has signed a binding agreement on 28 October 2026 to acquire the Tarros Group. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by January 2027. It forms part of Contship Italia’s growth strategy aimed at the development of a Euro-Mediterranean logistics platform. Tarros operates an integrated Mediterranean short-sea shipping network combining scheduled liner services that currently deploys 5 chartered ships of 600 to 1

MSC has extended its Far East-Indian subcontinent Shikra service to Khor Fakkan and Sohar as it capitalises on the high demand and freight rates to the Middle East despite severe congestion at these ports. The first Khor Fakkan call was made on 18 October 2026 with the 24,346 teu MSC MICOL under the new Shikra rotation that calls at Dalian, Xingang, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Singapore, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Khor Fakkan, Sohar, Dalian. The extended service will turn in 15 weeks using up

Boluda Shipping has announced the acquisition of Samskip on 28 October 2026 that will allow it to establish a pan-European short sea shipping network connecting Northern Europe with the Iberian Peninsula, Canary Islands and West Africa. The deal is expected to close on 1 January 2027 subject to regulatory approvals. Following completion, the enlarged Boluda network is expected to comprise of 32 vessels with Samskip's existing fleet of 15 ships of 130 teu to 950 teu set to join Boluda that will

Register Free Trial Further signs are emerging that container freight rates have peaked as cargo demand softens heading into the traditional slack winter season while capacity pressure is easing with the further release of ships returning to the Suez route. Carriers have failed to push through the planned November rate hikes and the pace of rate cuts is accelerating as they scramble to secure cargo before rates soften further. EC freight futures have started to correct after their initial enthu

Newly established Jade Pacific Line has launched its first service connecting Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Karachi, Sokhna, Mundra from 25 September 2026 using the 1,100 teu MEDKON SIA on an irregular 30-35 day rolling schedule. Jade Pacific was established in Singapore in April 2026 and is headed by former SeaLead executives. The company is affiliated to Ocean Silk Line (OSL) and OVP Shipping, with OSL holding a 30% interest.

MSC will launch a new Jasmine service connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Surabaya, Semarang, Singapore, Shanghai from November 2026. The new service will turn in 35 days using 5 ships of 2,000-3,000 teu starting with the 2,169 teu MSC WIND II at Shanghai on 6 November 2026 (delayed from planned start date on 4 November).

Register Free Trial MSC has added to its massive orderbook with a fresh order for 20 additional 24,000 teu ships at Hengli HI, lifting the total number of giant containerships over 20,000 teu ordered at the Dalian yard by MSC to 62 units. Together with 8 more 13,000 teu ship orders that HMM announced last week, the containership orderbook ratio has jumped to a post-2009 peak of 46.5%, with the TEU capacity reaching 16.2m TEU. Although the spot market freight rates appear to have peaked after c