Total 213 Posts
Register Free Trial The Strait of Hormuz remains shut to containership traffic, apart from Iranian-linked vessels who have made 6 inbound and 4 outbound sailings in the Persian Gulf since the war started. 2 Iranian-linked ships that have been idle since August following US sanctions last year have also been recently activated and are now on loaded and on their way to the Persian Gulf. CMA CGM have resumed bookings in and ouf of the Middle East Gulf states despite the Hormuz blockade by offerin
Register Free Trial The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut as the Iran crisis enters its second week, with more than 140 containerships still trapped in the Persian Gulf. Apart from 6 IRISL ships that continue to make Hormuz transits last week, only a single feeder ship operated by GFS made it out on 3rd March before a second ship was hit by a missile on 4th March. Carriers have suspended bookings in and out of the Persian Gulf, while cargo in transit are being discharged at contingency
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
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
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
Register Free Trial TEU-mile demand is trending higher YoY due to the later date of Chinese New Year this year, with the higher demand keeping charter rates elevated as carriers are still chasing tonnage even as profitability continues to deteriorate. Maersk reported an EBIT loss of -$153m for its Ocean Shipping business in the 4th quarter, dragging down the company’s consolidated net earnings to -$70m despite positive contributions from its logistics and terminal businesses. Hapag-Lloyd avoide
Register Free Trial Carriers earnings are back in the spotlight after ONE posted an operating loss in the 4th quarter of 2025. Freight rates have continued to slip ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays and the carriers’ ability to stop the rate slump will continue to be tested in the coming months. Although global TEU-mile demand remains resilient and currently stants at 6.5% above last year’s levels, there are doubts over the sustainability of current cargo growth outside of the US as well as
Register Free Trial The uncertainty surrounding the return of containerships from the Cape route continues to rile the market with freight futures rallying over the past week after CMA CGM signalled to its rivals against an early return to the Suez that could drag down freight rates that are already under downward pressure. The SCFI dropped by 7.4% last week with further declines expected ahead of the Chinese New Year as carriers eager to build cargo roll pools start to slash rates more aggress
Register Free Trial Trump’s Greenland tariffs would threaten the fragile balance on the Transatlantic container trades, with westbound rates from Europe to the US already down by 40% since the beginning of 2025. But carriers face a bigger challenge away from the Transatlantic arena as freight rates out of Asia are eroding despite earlier expectations of a market rally ahead of the Chinese New Year. The lack of capacity discipline continues to pull down freight rates with the SCFI shedding 4.4%
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