Register Free Trial The sudden closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalation of the conflict in Iran over the weekend will affect 650,000 teu of weekly container traffic handled at Persian Gulf ports. Although these account for only 3.3% of total global throughput, the disruptions arising from the reconfiguration of the Hormuz related services would affect up to 10% of the global fleet. Increased port congestion, tightening vessel supply and container equipment shortages would push u

The Sun Chief Express (SCX) transpacific service operated by Emirates Shipping for US NVOCC UWL will be terminated from March 2026. The service was first launched in 26 April 2022 by Swire Shipping for UWL to provide direct connections between Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Seattle. The service is operated fortnightly, initially using 3 ships of 2,380 to 2,750 teu from Swire Shipping until July 2025 when the Swire ships were replaced by 3 ships from Emirates Shipping. The service currently calls

CMA CGM will launch a new Ocean Rise Express (OCR) service connecting Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Xiamen, Yantian, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Southampton, Nansha, Kobe from April 2026. The service will be operated by CMA CGM alone without the participation of OCEAN Alliance partners and will turn in 98 days using 14 ships of 7,800 to 9,900 teu starting with the 8,048 teu CMA CGM BYBLOS at Kobe on 2 April 2026. This service aims to fill the gap left by the Premier Alliance's withdrawal of direct calls at J

KMTC will launch a new Philippines Japan Express (PJX) service from 13 March 2026 to connect Manila, Busan, Tokyo, Chiba, Yokohama, Ulsan, Busan, Manila. The service will turn in 21 days and will deploy 3 ships of 1,000 teu that are redeployed from the existing Japan East Keihin 1 (JEK1) and Pusan Manila Express (PMX) service that will be replaced by the new PJX service starting with the 1,000 teu SUNNY LAVENDER at Manila on 13 March 2026. The combination of the JEK1 and PMX on the new PJX wil

Register Free Trial The US Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA import tariffs lifted market sentiments but the impact on Transpacific market demand is likely to be muted as the new 15% global tariff announced by President Trump as well as the threat of further supplementary tariffs will largely neutralize the impact of the IEEPA ruling. The tariff uncertainty provides little incentives for shippers to alter their shipment plans to take advantage of the marginal reduction in the tariff rate in the sho

Wan Hai and Interasia Lines (IAL) have jointly launched a new Taiwan-Vietnam-SE Asia TVS) service connecting Port Klang, Penang, Port Klang, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung, Ho Chi Minh City, Port Klang from 1 February 2026. The service turns in 21 days using 3 ships of 1,700-2,000 teu starting with the 1,756 teu INTERASIA VISION at Port Klang on 1 February 2026, followed by the 2,038 teu WAN HAI 291 and WAN HAI 293. The New Super 5 (NS5) service operated by Wan Hai and IAL will be revis

European short sea operator CLdN has announced on 17 February 2026 an agreement to acquire Samskip's services connecting Rotterdam with the UK and Ireland. The deal covers the container shipping services currently operated by Samskip between Rotterdam and the UK ports of Belfast, Blyth, Grangemouth, Hull and Tilbury and the Irish ports of Cork, Dublin and Waterford using 6 chartered ships of 650 to 1,080 teu. Following the completion of the sale which is still subject to regulatory approvals, S

TS Lines will add a new North China-Thailand Express (NTX) service by teaming up with CMA CGM's intra-Asia arm CNC on the latter's existing North China-Thailand 8 (NT8) service from 30 March 2026. TS Lines will deploy the 2,954 teu TS TACOMA on the service, replacing 1 of 3 ships currently deployed by CNC on this service that connects Laem Chabang, Hong Kong, Nansha, Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shekou, Laem Chabang.

Register Free Trial Hapag-Lloyd has agreed to pay $4.2Bn to acquire ZIM in the largest carrier consolidation move since 2017 when COSCO acquired OOCL. The deal will still require regulatory approvals and triggered a protest strike at Zim’s head office in Israel over the weekend. It comes as carriers’ ability to halt the rate slump will be tested again via another GRI push planned on 1 March despite the weaker cargo demand after the Chinese New Year holidays. The transpacific route is most at ri

Hapag-Lloyd announced on 16 February an agreement to acquire ZIM, through a structure that involves the Israeli private equity investor FIMI Opportunity Funds. The completion of the transaction will be subject to agreement by the Israeli government as well as additional regulatory approvals and the consent of the shareholders’ meeting of ZIM. The announcement follows leaks by Israeli media over the weekend with Hapag-Lloyd confirming on 15 February that it is in advanced discussions to acquire

COSCO has extended its China-Pacific Northwest Coast/Vancouver (CPV) service with the addition of new calls at Yangpu, Haiphong and Hong Kong from January 2026 in order to provide additional connectivity to its Transpacific network. The extended CPV service will call at Yangpu, Haiphong, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Shanghai, Vancouver, Seattle, Xingang, Dalian, Lianyungang, Qingdao, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Yangpu. The service will turn in 9 weeks and will deploy up to 9 ships of 4,200 to 5,100 teu from COSCO

ONE and Wan Hai will launch their jointly operated PS8/AP2 transpacific service calling at Qingdao, Ningbo, Los Angeles, Oakland, Qingdao from 18 May 2026. The service will turn in 6 weeks and will initially deploy 5 ships with 1 skipped sailing in each cycle with ONE to operate 3 ships and Wan Hai to operate 2 ships starting with the 4,680 teu WAN HAI 517 scheduled to call at Qingdao on 18 May 2026. ONE's Premier Alliance partners HMM and Yang Ming will also take slots on this service as the P