Shipping

Sea-Intelligence has published issue 113 of the Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, with schedule reliability figures up to and including December 2020. As the report itself is quite comprehensive and covers schedule reliability across 34 different trades lanes and 60+ carriers, this press release…

Carrier Transicold’s TripLINK™ platform for refrigerated container monitoring has been enhanced with capabilities to integrate with vessel-based wireless networks for improved shipboard cargo visibility and operations efficiency.  Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a leading global…

UK Border Force officers have disrupted a large drug smuggling operation after seizing almost a ton of cocaine -with a street value of around £76 million- hidden among bananas at the Port of Southampton. The Class A drugs, weighing a total of 946 kg, were found within a shipping container on a commercial…

Following the release of its eleventh annual reefer analysis, Dynamar Shipping Information and Consultancy indicates that worldwide volumes of refrigerated trade reached a new high of 169.2 million tons in 2019, according to provisional figures, indicating a growth rate of just below 2% when compared to…

In 2021, although Covid-19 has been effectively controlled within China, the pandemic is still raging around the world. It has to be said that the deteriorating situation overseas has had a great impact on the import and export trade. Ports are seeing severe congestions, empty containers continue to pile…

Dreamsofts Optimization Ltd. has an award winning shipping container cargo optimizer available in the iOS and Mac stores. The application is also available on Windows and is built in Delphi FireMonkey. Both a professional and... - Details...

An international drugs gang has attempted to import cocaine and heroin worth millions of pounds hidden in consignments of fruit and vegetables from the Netherlands. Port authorities discovered drugs with a street value of £40 mln when they intercepted four shipments destined for the north of England but…

Hapag-Lloyd will introduce two new general rates increases (GRI) in the North American market from mid-February.

The German line will increase rates for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers from the US and Canada to the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea and Indian Subcontinent by US$50/TEU and US$100/FEU.

In addition, Hapag-Lloyd will implement a new GRI of US$960/TEU for all container types and US$1,200/FEU for all container types in the eastbound trade from East Asia to all US and Canadian destinations.

This rate increases will also apply for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers.

The outbreak of Covid-19 in the period leading up to Chinese Spring Festival [25 January, 2020] made it nearly impossible to go out and buy fresh fruit or to visit friends and bring fresh fruit as a present. The most festive time of the year lost its flavor. Now that Spring Festival [12 February, 2021]…

Evergreen Marine Corporation has confirmed that its 2014-built 9,466TEU ship Ever Liberal, has suffered a stack collapse while en route from Busan, South Korea, to Los Angeles at approximately 0230 UTC on 30 December 2020.

The Taiwanese liner operator told Container News that when the ship was around 20 nautical-miles southwest of Japan's Kyushu island, heavy winds and rough seas caused some of the containers to topple.

Up to 36 40ft containers fell overboard while 21 similar containers fell onto the ship deck.

Evergreen said, “The captain of Ever Liberal immediately notified the Japan Coast Guard to alert any vessels nearby of possible floating containers.”

At the Japan Coast Guard’s instruction, Evergreen appointed salvors to recover the containers that fell overboard.

Evergreen explained, its offices are close to Taipei port and, “All shore-based support and management resources can render full assistance to facilitate the processing of damaged containers, and to minimise the impact on the ship's schedule.”

General Average will not be declared, Evergreen said, as all losses incurred will be covered by the company’s insurers.

Evergreen stated that all crew members are safe and Ever Liberal remains seaworthy and is continuing its voyage. No hazardous goods are contained within the affected containers.

Hapag-Lloyd has announced new increased charges from mid-January and February to various destinations across the world.

The German line will apply new ocean tariff rates for all 20’ and 40’ general purpose containers, including high cube containers, on the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Pakistan to North Europe trade, effective for all container gate in full as of 15 January onwards and until 31 January.

Standard Container

Additionally, Hapag-Lloyd will implement new prices from Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Pakistan to Mediterranean as follows:

Standard Container

Moreover, the Hamburg-based shipping company has announced a new general rate increase (GRI) from Indian Subcontinent (ISC) and Middle East (ME) to the United States and Canada, effective from 1 February, for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers.

US$480 per 20' standard container US$600 per 40' standard container US$600 per 40' high cube container US$600 per 40' reefer container

Hapag-Lloyd has postponed the implementation of the 1 January GRI for all types of boxes in the eastbound trade from East Asia to all US and Canadian destinations. The new effective date of this GRI will be 1 February.

US$960 per all 20' container types US$1200 per all 40' container types

Scammers are duping Canadians out of tens of thousands of dollars with the promise of new shipping containers — and they're bringing down legitimate companies with them.

Modern industries demand better service levels and the pandemic has spurred the process of change in the supply chain. Next year could be a pivotal period in the evolution of the shipping industry, shifting it towards a more collaborative approach. The pandemic is tipped to have far reaching consequences, writes Nick Savvides, Container News' managing editor, more profound than just stacking the odds.

Heads I win, tails you lose, shipping’s new spin on a win win situation. Carriers are spinning the line that they are interested in their customer welfare, but as is often the case, actions speak louder than words. And while lines will make a fast buck this year, shippers have complained of a poor service, and unreliable timekeeping.

But will that continue into the future?

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Wednesday reviewed Chinese customs data and found several major blockages of Australian imports over the past month, including 9,000 liters of Australian craft beer turned away at the port city of Xiamen and 8,000 kilograms of frozen beef denied entry to Shanghai. China and Australia are embroiled in a long-running trade and diplomatic feud.

With Christmas fast approaching, fruit and vegetable sales will again climb 'a little' in Belgium and the Netherlands. People like to serve something special, so exotic fruit sales will also rise. Many exotics are, however, flown in from places like Southeast Asia and South America. The coronavirus pandemic…

Shippers are not buying into the box shortage paradigm, that the dearth of containers in Asia is caused by the pandemic, presented by shipping lines and others, with one shipper telling Container News, “Containers don’t have a life of their own, the lines manage their box fleets as well as their ships.”

Shippers believe that the cause of the container shortage and the spike in charges is the lines themselves, “Shippers are being charged astronomic rates for the lines’ own incompetence,” said one source, adding, “It’s easy to suggest it’s a problem from the pandemic, but the lines manage their own container fleets as well as the ships.”

Growing anger among global shippers, in both the US and Europe has seen the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) investigating charges and the box shortages in the US.

However, maritime consultant Mike Garratt, chairman of MDS Transmodal, which this week published a quarterly review of the container industry, argued that just by looking at the port statistics you can see that there is a problem with the view that there is a container shortage and this year there are more ‘missing’ containers than last year.

According to a report from maritime industry analyst Joe Monroe, global shipping companies are posting record revenue in 2020. This increase has prompted the FMC to announce that it will closely monitor the actions of the shipping lines, which it has asked to begin reporting any rate changes on a monthly…

The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported on the 3rd of December that global shipping prices had turned into a nightmare in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shipping costs reached record heights in December. One of the worst victims of this situation is China. The shipping cost between China and…

It's one of the biggest logistical challenges in modern history: How will millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses that must be kept at incredibly cold temperatures be quickly shipped across continents and oceans?

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has threatened to use all of its possible powers to overturn international carriers' decision to drop agricultural exports in favour of repositioning empty containers from the US.

Container shortages and market forces have led some carriers to cut allocations from traditional US exporters in a bid to alleviate some of the severe problems being felt in the supply chain. The move is having a drastic impact on agricultural exports from the US, with reports of some shippers having their allocations cut from 300 to three containers a month.

After intense lobbying from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition and its partners, the FMC has announced that it is opening an investigation into these measures.

Recently, ONE Apus, a container ship with the capacity of 14,052 TEUs, build by Japanese shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) in 2019, encountered severe weather conditions when sailing across the North Pacific. As a result, the container stacks collapsed and approximately 1,900 containers were…

Sharjah is the third largest and third most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. This week, Sharjah Customs recently seized an illegal shipment of crystal methamphetamine, weighing 123kg. The shipment, which was coming through a sea port, was hidden at the bottom of a refrigerated container loaded…

On the MIN at Rungis, you can find Del Monte Extra Sweet pineapples of Kenyan origin transported by plane, as well as the Extra Sweet pineapple of Costa Rican origin sold under the exclusive brand HoneyGlow. "Del Monte is the world's leading distributor of pineapples, and particularly of the Extra Sweet…

An Ocean Network Express (ONE) vessel that reported a container stack collapse, on 30 November, may have lost up to 25% of its cargo as images of the collapse show a catastrophic event, with almost all of the forward cargo stacks affected.

A consultant master Mariner with experience on container ships told Container News that the loss of cargo, reportedly around 1,900 containers, could be approximately 28% of the total cargo carried by ONE Apus on this voyage.

“We calculated this using eastbound slot utilisation for Transpacific routes as reported, and the image seen on Twitter,” said the consultant, who estimates that the quantity of lost and damaged containers may be in the range of 35% of cargo on board since lost containers will not be included in the collapsed stacks still present on deck.

Global Container Terminals (GCT) has received two modern ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, on 27 November, capable of handling 14,000TEU vessels at GCT Vanterm in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver.

The cranes are part of GCT’s US$160 million private sector investment to modernise and increase the level of operations at GCT Vanterm and comes after the announcement of Navis N4 Terminal Operating System (TOS) implementation at the terminal.

"The arrival of the two cranes demonstrates GCT’s ongoing commitment to enabling smart capacity in the Vancouver gateway and Western Trade Corridor through British Columbia," said GCT in its announcement.

GCT Vanterm’s two newly arrived cranes will be among the most advanced in North America, according to a statement, electrically powered, they feature regenerative drives that can provide power back into the grid and high-efficiency LED lighting.

The cranes will reduce glare and light pollution along with features intended to reduce operational noise, while they have also been painted cloud-white colour to mitigate daytime skyline visibility.

GCT added that the new machines, along with other equipment upgrades and process improvements, will improve safety for the workforce, increase terminal capability, and reduce equipment emissions by 55%, all within the same footprint.

The largest shipping lines of the world have announced new charges in the European and East Asian regions in December and into next year.

Maersk has announced a new peak season surcharge (PSS) for reefer commodities from Far East Asia to North and South European countries. The surcharge will be US$1,000/20' reefer box, US$1,500/40' reefer container and will take effect from 15 December, apart from Taiwan, where the PSS will be effective from 1 January 2021.

On the same date, Maersk's 2M Alliance partner, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will apply the following freight of all kinds (FAK) rates from Europe to Canada and Mexico.

The seizures of large quantities of drugs at seaports have been on the rise worldwide. The increase in shipping operations, coupled with large container ships doubling in size in the past couple of years, has provided an attractive mode of transport for drug traffickers. African ports are subject to this…

A shortage of reefer containers is a big problem at the moment in the global trade. But how does this happen? The video below explains exactly what has happens since the outbreak of the corona virus.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced a temporary end to bookings of food-related commodities bound for the Port of Huangpu, located in China's southern Guangdong province and operated by the Guangzhou Port Group.

ONE has taken this action due to stricter customs inspections and disinfection requirements for food import commodities (including but not limited to meat, seafood, dairy, fruits and vegetables), which has slowed down inbound reefer container pick-up activity at Huangpu port in southern China causing congestion.

The decision was effective from yesterday, 26 November, according to a company statement.

For containers in transit, the Singaporean line has suggested its customers consider a change of destination to alternative ports, especially for time-sensitive cargoes such as fresh and chilled commodities.

Hapag-Lloyd has announced the implementation of a peak season surcharge (PSS) of US$150/container on agricultural products such as dried legumes and other products on the eastbound trade from Canada via Port of Loading (POL) Vancouver to South Europe on the Mediterranean Pacific Service (MPS).

The German carrier will introduce this PSS from 1 December in order to "provide its customers with a high level of service, equipment supply as well as vessel space," it said in its announcement.

In the meantime, Hapag-Lloyd has changed its empty containers (MT) return information at short notice in Canada due to the increased congestion levels at CP Vaughan and CN Brampton / Mississauga Intermodal Service Centre (MISC), which has caused both rail operators to enforce restrictions on the return of empties to those ramps.

That means "the need for us to secure additional empty storage capacity at relatively short notice," said Hapag-Lloyd, which also pointed out that, "these facilities are also becoming congested as all lines look for alternative return locations."