Total 240 Posts
Register Free Trial Maersk has made the first break from its logistics integrator strategy with a 26 ship vessel order that was confirmed by the company last week. It sets the stage for a new capacity race as the containership orderbook ratio surges to a post 2009 high of 45% with additional orders still to come as vessel demand remain relentless. The current vessel shortage is driving freight rates, charter rates and second hand ship prices to fresh year to date highs, which has ironically mad
Register Free Trial The escalation in the Middle East tensions as Houthi forces advance in Yemen over the last 2 weeks has not deterred carriers from resuming more Suez transits, with COSCO and OOCL the latest carriers to return to the troubled Red Sea region. The move will leave the Premier Alliance partners as the only main carrier group that have not returned to the Red Sea. The total capacity of ships diverted to the Cape route has dropped to a 2 year low of 4.6% of the global fleet. Freig
Register Free Trial The Israeli government’s decision on the Zim sale to Hapag-Lloyd has been postponed by 30 days to allow Hapag-Lloyd and Israeli private equity fund FIMI to revise its offer in order to address Israeli opposition to the sale. Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd has reversed its decision on Red Sea transits as it sent the 14,993 teu AL JMELIYAH on the Asia-Med SE1/AE12 service on the Suez, with Maersk making 10 trans-Suez trips of its own lasat week as the 2 Gemini Cooperation partners con
Register Free Trial Terminal operations in Ningbo and Shanghai were severely disrupted again by typhoon Saudel last week, resulting in extended delays of over 10 days in the most severe cases. The elevated port congestion continues to tie up vessel capacity with 3.92m TEU of 11.4% of the fleet still tied up at anchorages last week. Vessel availability remains very tight, keeping charter rates firm as the limited number of ships circulate within the same circle of charterers as new ship deliveri
Register Free Trial Port congestion has reached a new high with over 4.3m TEU waiting to berth at container ports globally, driven mainly by delays across East Asia as fresh storms continued to disrupt vessel schedules. In terms of total TEU, the stranded capacity is higher now compared to the previous peak of 4.0m TEU reached during the COVID pandemic in 2022. The current stranded capacity accounts for 12.6% of the global fleet at 34.4m TEU, which is lower than the peak of 15.7% recorded in 20
Register Free Trial Carriers continue to push for an early return to the Red Sea with MSC the latest to join the fray as 7 of it ships crossed the Bab el Mandeb in the last 2 weeks. Maersk has confirmed that it has already returned over 30% of its Cape volumes back to the trans-Suez route and it views the conditions for a full return to the Red Sea have already been met even as it eyes further fleet expansion to combat persistent port and landside bottlenecks. Congestion remains elevated over t
Register Free Trial While traffic on the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted with just 2 containerships making outbound passages last week, traffic on the Bab el Mandeb continues to increase with CMA CGM and Maersk pushing 3 more services back to the Suez route as they continue to defy the threat of Houthi attacks. These moves are aimed at combating the shortage of vessels and container equipment that have been made worse by protracted port congestion across North Asia and Europe. COSCO Shippin
Register Free Trial The container freight rate rally received another boost heading into August as carriers pushed through rate increases across the Transpacific, Latin America, India subcontinent and Middle East routes with the SCFI composite index rebounding by 4.7% as it clawed back part of its recent losses and defying the weakness on the Asia-Europe route where freight rates remain under downward pressure. Cargo demand remains strong out of Asia, and persistent port congestion in China has
Register Free Trial While Houthis choke the Bab el-Mandeb to Saudi oil exports, containerships are still using the strait to deliver cargo to Jeddah and other Red Sea ports with several carriers including Maersk and CMA CGM also sticking to their trans-Suez transits. The pause in military exchanges is providing little clarity on the direction of the market, although container freight futures anticipate freight rates to drop from their recent peaks despite the recent rise in fuel prices. Despite
Register Free Trial The renewed military conflict in the Persian Gulf kept the Strait of Hormuz shut last week, but Maersk and CMA CGM have continued to send their ships through the Red Sea despite the increased risk of Houthi attacks. Although only 24 containerships remain idle in the Persian Gulf with a total capacity of 69,000 teu, there is a growing number of Iranian ships that are stranded in various Asian anchorages that have been added to the idle fleet. The rising tensions is giving con