Hede Shipping will retain its HDS2 transpacific service connecting Huanghua, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Huanghua with a single ship despite the looming USTR 301 port service fees that will be imposed on Chinese operators from 14 October 2025. The HDS2 was temporarily suspended from 26 September with 4 weeks of blanked sailings until 23 October. The 1,809 teu ANDROKLIS will resume its HDS2 rotation on 23 October and is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles on 9 October. Based on its net tonnage of 7,78
Hede Shipping has withdrawn its HDS2 transpacific service connecting Huanghua, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Huanghua with the last sailing by the 1,809 teu ANDROKLIS at Huanghua on 18 September 2025. The ship is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles on 5 October 2025, as Hede streamlines its transpacific services ahead of the USTR 301 port service fees that will be imposed on Chinese operators calling at US ports from 14 October 2025. The service has been operating on an irregular frequency since July u
The USTR announced on 17 April the revised Section 301 actions on China’s dominance In the shipbuilding sector, backing down from all of its initial proposals. Although port fees on Chinese operated and Chinese-built ships are retained, carriers will be able to circumvent the fees by swapping out all of the affected ships in the next 180 days as the fee will no longer apply on the operators’ fleet composition or prospective orders but only on ships calling at US ports on a per voyage basis (cha
Following a strong start in the first 2 months of the year, container cargo demand has fallen back in March with the volume rebound after the Chinese New Year failing to materialise. Current projections suggest full year container volumes will drop by 1.1% in 2025, as the muted cargo demand is expected to last through the summer peak season. The demand outlook for the rest of this year remains uncertain, with the threat of additional US tariffs that will be unveiled on 2 April expected to furth
US efforts to revive its shipbuilding industry will achieve little traction despite the USTR’s proposal to impose a levy on Chinese built ships as well as remissions for operators using US built ships. There are currently only 63 US-flagged containerships, accounting for just 0.9% of the global fleet of 6,874 ships currently. Only 25 of the US flagged ships were built in the US primarily to serve the Jones Act trades, while the rest of the 38 ships were built outside of the US. Maersk, CMA CGM
The USTR has proposed punitive levies for ships calling at US ports on Chinese shipping companies as well as other companies operating Chinese built ships of up to $1.5m per vessel call at US ports, with an additional charge of up to $1m per call for companies with ships on order at Chinese shipyards. The proposed trade action would hit COSCO especially hard, while Taiwanese and Korean carriers would benefit from the move as only a small proportion of their fleet are Chinese built, allowing for