There is no improvement in the port congestion in North Europe, with waiting times at Rotterdam and Antwerp extended up to 7 days, while berthing at Hamburg and Bremerhaven are delayed up to 3 days. Barge delays also remain severe with waiting times of up to 3 days, which has exacerbated the severe yard congestion situation. Spot rates to North Europe continue to edge upwards on rising utilization which edged higher as weekly capacity remained steady at 300,000 TEU for a third consecutive week,

CMA CGM leads the list of carriers on the Suez/Red Sea route with 12 containership passages in June. Apart from regular passages on its Asia-Med Phoenician Express and Levant-Middle East Express services that have retained their Suez routing since last year, CMA CGM added 3 ad-hoc sailings last month, including the first of the Middle East-Med Express ships that will resume full Suez passages from the end of June. CMA CGM was the only main carrier to enjoy the Suez Canal Authority’s 15% discoun

The strength of the US container cargo demand remains very much in evidence, with preliminary import volume data for May and June showing imports from Asia declining by only 5.6% in the last 2 months despite the severe disruption from the Trump tariffs. Although imports from China dropped by 24% yoy, volumes from all other Asian origins recorded positive gains, led by Vietnam and Indonesia which grew by 34% and 33% respectively. The 20% tariff on Vietnamese imports announced last week will not

After a day of mark-to-market trading yesterday (8 July), futures participants retreated to the sidelines today (9 July), awaiting the next catalyst. Market consensus remains stubbornly bearish, with most expecting freight rates to decline. The principal concern among traders is not a sudden surge in rates, but rather that time may run out for a meaningful drop before the August contract expires. Both daily volume and open interest dropped sharply day to day today. Vessel utilisation continues

Register Free Trial The strength of the US container cargo demand remains very much in evidence, with preliminary import volume data for May and June showing imports from Asia declining by only 5.6% in the last 2 months despite the severe disruption from the Trump tariffs. Although imports from China dropped by 24% yoy, volumes from all other Asian origins recorded positive gains, led by Vietnam and Indonesia which grew by 34% and 33% respectively. The 20% tariff on Vietnamese imports announce

MSC has made the first move to withdraw excess capacity on the transpacific route with the suspension of the Pearl service that connects Cai Mep, Haiphong, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Long Beach. The last sailing on the Pearl service will be made by the 8,819 teu MSC ELODIE from Xiamen on 13 July 2025. The Pearl service is currently operated as part of Pearl-Shikra service since May 2025 using ships of 8,000 to 9,400 teu. The Far East-India leg is expected to be retained after the remov

Vuxx Shipping has launched a new South America-West Russia (LAM-RU) service connecting Paranagua, Itapoa, Santos, Rio Grande, Kaliningrad, St Petersburg, Paranagua from 23 June 2025. The service will turn in 8 weeks and will deploy 4 ships of 1,700 to 1,900 teu on a fortnightly frequency starting with the 1,906 teu AEOLUS at Paranagua on 23 June, followed by the 1,730 teu DHANU on 7 July and 1,679 teu MUARA on 21 July, with a 4th ship that has not yet been named.

The freight futures market in China shifted from being strongly bearish at the beginning of last week to showing a clear lack of interest now. The recent uptick over the past few trading days was driven partly by reports of increasing port congestion in Europe, but was mainly the result of short sellers closing out their positions. Trading volume today dropped by 40,000 contracts for the first time since April 2024.

SeaLead has relaunched its China-Red Sea (CRS) service connecting Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Sokhna, Jeddah, Shanghai using 5 ships that have been redirected from an earlier plan to deploy them on the Transpacific PNW route. The CRS service was already operated on an ad hoc basis since the end of April with the 3,451 teu LIDIA from 27 April 2025 at Shanghai and 2,274 teu CICCIO from 24 May at Ningbo. They have been joined by the 3,398 teu ALE at Ningbo on 14 June, 2,478 teu BERTIE at Shanghai on

CU Lines, SeaLead and TS Lines have reversed their decision to add additional tonnage on the Transpacific route in the face of rapidly declining freight rates. CU Lines will withdraw the Trans Pacific West Coast I Service (TP1) after a single sailing by the 2,758 teu CUL MANILA that started its voyage on 16 June 2025 calling at Nansha, Shekou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Los Angeles, Ningbo. The ship will be redirected to the Red Sea service after completing its current voyage at Ningbo on 31 July 2025. T

Congestion at North Continent main ports have worsened noticeably in the past week, with average waiting times at Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg rising to over 2.5 days, with barge traffic also affected by recent low water conditions. Carriers are still pushing for a July Asia-North Europe rate hike with the SCFI recording a 10.6% increase last Friday while the SCFIS registered its 5th consecutive weekly gain with a larger than expected 9.6% jump on Monday. Scepticism remains on the carriers’ a

Register Free Trial The rapid decline in Transpacific freight rates have forced some carriers to roll back their capacity plans but with tonnage already committed in some cases, carriers are still pushing ahead with new Transpacific service upgrades. Emirates is the latest newcomer to the US market, making a return to transpacific after a 17 year absence, even though another newcomer CU Lines have given up plans to revive its US service after just a single sailing. Niche carriers Hede and SeaLe