Container Shipping News

The Port of Oakland’s container volume registers continued growth in the fourth quarter. Total container volume rose 10% over recorded volumes during the same period in 2023.Loaded imports continue to grow for the 12th straight month. Import volume rose 11.2% in October 2024, compared to October 2023. Port operators processed 81,498 TEUs (twenty-foot containers), versus 73,281 TEUs in 2023.“Overall, the Port’s loaded import cargo is trending towards its pre-pandemic level,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes.

This week at MarineLink…The IMO 2020 Sulfur Cap essentially ushered in a new type of fuel - VLSFO. With it came the engine problems caused by off-spec or incompatible fuels as producers grappled with the requirement for providing a sulfur content not exceeding 0.05%. As pointed out in Lloyd’s Register’s 2024 Fuel Quality Report, persistent issues involving cat fines, stability, sulfur content and flash point continue, and isolated incidents of chemical contamination are still occurring.If new…

DP World has expanded its Green Marine membership by adding the Vancouver, Nanaimo, and Saint John terminals to the program. DP World’s terminal in Prince Rupert has been Green Marine certified since 2013. Doug Smith, CEO of DP World in Canada, said: "We are committed to integrating environmental practices into our operations and continuously improving our sustainability, and we know from our experience with the program that Green Marine will provide us with the tools we need to achieve this ambitious goal."David Bolduc…

Port ranks number one for refrigerated exports, supports $8.5 billion in ag exports.The Port of Oakland continues to be one of the most important gateways for U.S. agricultural products. The Port exported 235,899 TEUs (twenty-foot containers) of agricultural commodities as of October 2024, totaling nearly $8.5 billion. Oakland ranks number one by TEU volume in international refrigerated (reefer) export trade among United States ports.“The Port of Oakland is a major international gateway for California’s and the nation’s farmers,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Seaspan Corporation have established OneSea Solutions, a company focused on technical ship management and maritime talent development.ONESEA is jointly owned and operated by the companies and headquartered in Singapore. ONESEA will offer technical ship management services for container vessels owned by ONE and vessels chartered by ONE from vessel owners. It will pursue the best of safety, efficiency, decarbonizing and digital initiatives, aiming to realize operational excellence of ONE's vessel operations.Raman Handa…

Preliminary fiscal year-end figures show Port Everglades enjoying healthy increases in cruise, cargo and petroleum volumes resulting in record revenues."Port Everglades is one of Broward County's vital economic engines, which supports more than 11,000 local jobs. That is a direct result of the success of the amazing leadership at Port Everglades and diverse array of companies served by our port," said Broward County Mayor Nan Rich.Port Everglades is a self-supporting enterprise fund of Broward County government and does not use local property taxes to operate.

With highly productive port service and expanding rail capabilities, South Carolina Ports looks to speed goods to market and support growth in the Southeast.SC Ports has three big-ship capable terminals and a total of 10 million TEUs on the horizon; the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast at 52 feet; two rail-served inland ports; and a near-port rail yard under construction.Construction is progressing on the Navy Base Intermodal Facility, which will significantly expand rail capabilities and capacity at the Port of Charleston.

The CMA CGM Group has announced the winners of its first CMA CGM Startup Awards.The international competition, organized in partnership with BFM Business, La Tribune and ZEBOX, attracted over 400 entries from innovative startups. 60 finalists, including 34 French startups, were selected to present their projects. Among the finalists were five startups supported by ZEBOX, the international innovation gas pedal initiated by Rodolphe Saadé.The solutions presented, focusing on the shipping…

Container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd and sector peer Maersk expect to open bookings in two weeks for their new Gemini cooperation starting in Feb. 2025, Hapag chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in a call with analysts on Thursday."We will take bookings in early December and have 10 weeks to go for start of operations," he said on a presentation for nine-months earnings. "We are confident that we are off to a good start."The tie-up, which both say would bring more efficient and flexible services…

Amazon.com and IKEA, in alliance with about three dozen other companies that depend on ocean freight, will invite shipping firms for the first time to bid on a contract in January to move their cargo on vessels powered by near-zero emissions e-fuels like e-methanol.The group known as the Zero Emissions Maritime Buyers Alliance wants to use the combined clout of its members, who have their own climate goals to meet, to create demand for e-fuels made with renewable electricity and carbon dioxide.

APM Terminals has awarded civil works and electrification contract for Maasvlakte II container terminal expansion in Rotterdam to CareGo, a consortium of ABB, Dura Vermeer and GMB.The expansion will cover a 51-hectare container yard, which will double the capacity of the terminal, making it one of the most advanced fully automated terminals in the world.The 51 hectares will consist of 31 additional yard blocks, quay area, truck and rail areas, and associated infrastructure.The Rotterdam Port Authority has already constructed 1,000 meters of new deep-sea quay for the expansion of the facility.

The Panama Canal Authority could double in coming years the number of containers that move through the key East-West commercial waterway, the canal's chief told a maritime conference on Friday.A cargo-consolidation plan will seek to increase container volumes by assigning them to larger vessels, chief Ricaurte Vazquez told Houston maritime conference listeners. The authority also has granted shipping companies the ability to book future passages under a new auction of long-term reservation slots.But he warned that U.S.

Strong global demand pushed up CMA CGM's third-quarter profit while the current quarter was seeing a rush to ship goods from China, the shipping group said on Friday as it played down the risk to trade from possible U.S. tariffs.The French company reported a net profit of $2.73 billion for third quarter, up from $388 million in the year-earlier period, supported by a 5.5% increase in volume for its main ocean shipping division.Like other shipping firms, CMA CGM has benefited from restocking by U.S.

Hapag-Lloyd has ordered 24 new container ships from two Chinese shipyards with a combined investment volume of about $4 billion, it said on Wednesday.Twelve ships, each with a capacity of 16,800 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), will be built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, while the other 12, with a capacity of 9,200 TEU each, will come from New Times Shipbuilding Company Ltd.According to Hapag-Lloyd, the ships, which will be delivered between 2027 and 2029, will feature liquefied gas dual-fuel engines…

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has opened a 15-day comment period for members of the public to comment in response to a newly filed vessel sharing agreement between Ocean Network Express (ONE), Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Yang Ming Marine Transportation (Yang Ming).ONE, HMM and Yang Ming are parties to THE Alliance Agreement (No. 012439) that is currently in effect.The five-year agreement, titled the Premier Alliance Agreement, authorizes the three ocean common carriers to share vessels…

The designated European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, will play a pivotal role in securing supply chains and decarbonising the shipping sector, and the World Shipping Council (WSC) welcomes the opportunity to continue its dialogue with the EU Commission.The WSC says Commissioner-designate Tzitzikostas’ list of priorities should include protecting maritime supply chains against illegal trafficking and geopolitical dangers, integrating renewable energy into the transportation system…

Suez Canal Chairman Gamal El-Dein says Canal Economic Zone set for rapid expansion.Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ) has invested $3 billion on infrastructure over the past few years and has plans to invest a similar amount over the next few years as it works to attract investors, its chairman said in an interview.The zone, a collection of six ports and four industrial areas alongside, or near the waterway, has been given special legal and tax advantages to benefit from the vast amount of international shipping passing by.While government-run…

Just ten months into 2024, shipyards’ deliveries of container ships have reached a new annual record. A total of 410 ships with a capacity of 2.5m TEU have been delivered, surpassing the previous full year high of 2.3m TEU in 2023,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.As recycling of older ships has remained low, the deliveries have increased the size of the container fleet by 2.4m TEU (8.7%) since the beginning of 2024. The container fleet now consists of 6…

Ocean container carriers are desperately trying to push spot freight rates up in early November to halt the market decline and strengthen their hand during negotiations with European shippers for new long-term contracts.Latest data from Xeneta’s ocean and air freight rate intelligence platform shows average spot rates on the major fronthaul trades from the Far East to North Europe and the Mediterranean are set to increase on November 1 between 15-25%.Average spot rates currently stand at 3 390 per FEU (40ft container) into North Europe and $3…

Unionized workers started an unlimited strike at two terminals of the port of Montreal on Thursday amid stalled talks on a new labor contract, the employers' association said. The strike affects two terminals operated by Termont, which handle about 40% of the port's container traffic and roughly 15% of the port's overall cargo volume. Separately, Port of Vancouver foremen will be locked out on Monday unless they scrap a proposed strike, employers at Canada's biggest port said on Friday…

The ongoing impact of conflict in the Red Sea, spiraling freight rates and congestion across global ocean container supply chains resulted in record high carbon emissions from the ocean container shipping industry in Q3.The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions across Xeneta’s top 13 ocean container shipping trades, hit 107.9 points in Q3 – the highest on record and up 12.2% compared to a year ago before the Red Sea crisis.The CEI is based on Q1 2018…

The two people leading Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk into the new Gemini Cooperation spoke at the Xeneta Summit in Amsterdam last week expressing confidence in the new alliance achieving its ambition of 90% service reliability.The Gemini Cooperation will begin operating on February 1 next year, with a new hub and spoke approach of mainliner and transshipment services designed to increase reliability.Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, and Kenni Skotte, Vice President and Head of Ocean Network Product at Maersk…

'Ocean container shipping must harness the power of machine learning to protect supply chains' was an overriding message at the Xeneta Summit in Amsterdam.“While nobody can predict Covid-19 or the Red Sea Crisis, procurement professionals are constantly making decisions based on their outlook for the next few quarters," said Fabio Brocca, Chief Product Officer, Xeneta." When there is so much volatility and uncertainty across global supply chains, providing market guidance feels like an impossible task.