Maritime

As cargo shippers struggle, container-vessel companies rake in massive profits. Early signals point to record Q1 results.

Container shipping spot rates haven’t budged from COVID-fueled peaks. Cargo shippers’ hopes for a rate pullback are fading.

Glimmers of hope for the beaten-down tanker sector: more OPEC+ crude production and more long-haul exports from the U.S. to India.

If you ordered a fire pit or a rowing machine online, there’s a good chance it’s coming through the Port of Long Beach. The port is moving record amounts of containers and shipments are experiencing delays.

Days after Ever Given backlog was declared cleared, the number of ships waiting to transit the Suez Canal remains high (with video).

“Widely varying” tariff fees charged by container lines have prompted federal regulators to consider new rules.

Pearl service customers’ imports likely will be delayed arriving from Asia.

“Our all-time container record reinforces that we are adding more capacity to the Port of Charleston at the right time,” says South Carolina Ports CEO Jim Newsome.

Twenty tons of coke was found aboard an MSC ship in 2019. MSC just revealed that it’s spending $100 million more on security in response.

“Imagine a port where a ship slows down on approach to reduce emissions, plugs into the electrical grid at berth instead of burning fuel to run vital systems and is worked by zero-emissions cranes, yard vehicles and trucks. That’s our reality in Long Beach.”

Bad timing: Still-rising cargo demand is coinciding with container-shipping constraints in the wake of the Suez Canal crisis.

Maersk and ZIM ships are being deployed in response to “customers’ increased cargo demands.”

Daniel Maffei becomes chairman at a time of massive disruption in the world of trade.

FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller writes about FreightWaves, as well as transportation today and moving forward.

‘Bigger is better’ is the mantra of public tanker companies. The just-announced INSW-Diamond S merger is a step in that direction.

A ransomware gang is threatening to leak 2 terabytes of files stolen from shipping firm ECU Worldwide in the aftermath of a cyberattack as the owner vows to “take any steps necessary, legal and otherwise,” to protect customer data.

Biden taps Daniel Maffei to head the FMC amid the ongoing port congestion crisis.

Third-party logistics provider GSC Logistics plans to add 100 more drivers and 400 chassis to meet the container volume surge on the West Coast.

The Georgia Ports Authority has approved projects to increase the annual container capacity at the Port of Savannah to over 6 million TEUs from the existing 4.7 million TEUs.

You think you can just book your cargo on a plane to avoid the ocean shipping congestion at the Suez Canal? Guess again. Freighters were flying full even before the Ever Given got stuck, so finding space will be very difficult.

The president of the trade group says he expects a new CEO after “fierce” competition.

The South Korean container carrier expects the Suez Canal backlog to be cleared by the time the HMM Nuri arrives in mid-April.

The Panama Canal Authority’s administrator discusses why he’s not worried about a container ship blocking the canal.

Canadian police and border officers seized nearly $8 million in opium found in two shipping containers at the Port of Vancouver and then swapped the drugs with a dummy shipment to let the dragnet continue.

Suez Canal accident aftermath: Extensive disruptions are ahead for key Asia-East Coast container shipping services.

U.S. ports are positioned to win big off Biden administration’s offshore wind energy initiative

‘We pulled it off!’ says salvage company Boskalis after freeing the container ship.

Digging and pulling haven’t freed the giant Ever Given vessel that has stopped traffic in the Suez Canal. The next step might be to lighten the vessel by removing cargo.

The longer the Suez saga continues, the greater the container, tanker and dry bulk shipping impacts. There could be big losers — and winners.

Welcome aboard, freight customers. You’re now flying CMA CGM to the U.S. East Coast instead of taking a container ship.

Trade is bottled up around the world and part of the problem is the difficulty in getting seafarers and pilots back and forth across borders.

Additional dredgers have been brought in to help dig out the 20,000-TEU Evergreen Marine container ship.

The U.S. secretary of transportation testifies before Congress on the Biden administration’s infrastructure priorities.

The Maersk Eureka is 650 miles off the coast of Alaska awaiting repairs

Back in the Aristotle Onassis era, a Suez Canal closure was a tanker game changer. Today, tanker upside from the canal accident is limited.

Intel’s Ravi Dosanjh and the Port of Long Beach’s Noel Hacegaba take on supply chain visibility.

“Strong winds” are blamed for causing the 20,000-TEU Ever Given to get stuck and block Suez Canal traffic in both directions.

Fewer options means less competition and less incentive to control costs.

Vessels are backed up on both ends of the Suez Canal as tugs work to free the ultra large container ship Ever Given.

California’s container-ship traffic jam is slightly less jammed but import pressure remains high. One analyst warns the worst may be yet to come.

The Port of LA will use tax funds for repairs needed to address its booming business.

Ocean carrier ZIM just released record results and confirmed huge gains for contract rates. So why did its stock sink?

The world’s largest shipping line says it has changed its ways and is no longer playing the spot market, instead going steady with long-term partners.

Newbuild-to-fleet ratio now 15.3%, up from 9.4% in mid-2020. But orders are not high enough yet to wave red flags.

Another strike at the Port of Montreal increasingly likely after longshoremen reject contract as seven-month truce expires. Railroads and trucking companies, meanwhile, brace for scramble to Halifax.

Two bullish equity research reports this week on transportation stocks both highlight expectations around consumer spending and what that means for freight demand.

More and more beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) are moving manufacturing and warehousing to Alabama.

“2020 has been exceptional, with stellar performance in the industry,” says Hapag-Lloyd CFO Mark Frese.

Fireworks could be stuck at sea by the time the Fourth of July rolls around. Blame massive port congestion and overloaded freight networks. The fireworks industry is asking the Biden administration to provide a fix, but what can it do?

There is a direct correlation between stimulus checks and the surge in e-commerce spending, according to SEKO US.

“Our goal at FreightFlows is to make near-term market predictions to help vessel owners, traders, brokers and charterers have much better decision-making power in the international freight markets today,” said CEO Matt Morgan.

Deutsche Bank’s Amit Mehrotra on how long import surge could last and upside potential for container, dry bulk and tanker stocks.

Port Houston is positioning itself as a viable option for handling more containerized imports from Asia.

“Today we are in the seventh month of a historic import surge driven by unprecedented demand by American consumers,” says Gene Seroka.

As part of Women’s History Month, FreightWaves spotlights the first American woman to make it to the top at sea.

Tanker and bulker spot rates can go sub zero — some tanker rates are there now. What do the negative numbers really mean?

Container, dry bulk and tanker stocks push forward. Biggest winner since mid-2020: Danaos, up (this is not a typo) 1,202%.

“As retail imports continue to boom during the pandemic, the ability to quickly move goods from ships to the hinterland via rail is paramount,” says CEO Jim Newsome.

Anchorages are filling up with ships off multiple ports — not just California’s. Yet the reasons behind the traffic jams are not always the same.

The lack of Lunar New Year shutdowns contributes to the busiest February on record.

Booming sales, thin inventories and more stimulus on the way provide the backdrop for potentially setting a new record for retail container imports in 2021. The National Retail Federation raised its outlook again for loaded containers landing at U.S. ports in the first half of the year.

The Port of Virginia has recaptured some U.S. military business it lost over the years.

“We are solving meaningful business challenges with innovation and passion,” says GreyOrange Chief People Officer Ramya Sampath Sharma.

How does California congestion rank versus 2015 logjam caused by tensions with dockworkers union? It’s not even close: 2021 wins by a long shot.

“As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to accelerate our throughput and growth,” says Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

Wells Fargo transportation research analyst Allison Poliniak-Cusic raises expectations for intermodal providers in a new report. Favorable catalysts for the mode are expected to carry into 2022.

Analysts tally tanker fallout after OPEC+ stuns market with decision to hold the line of production cuts.

“Ocean Insights has dominated the container-tracking space, and we look forward to providing the industry not only the best ocean capabilities but also the most comprehensive end-to-end visibility platform,” says project44 CEO Jett McCandless.

Drayage trucking and logistics company ContainerPort sold its container yard and depot division to ITS ConGlobal, a company with intermodal, finished vehicle and depot service terminals.

If ocean freight rates have legs, analysts see much more room for the secondhand ship values to run — which should, in turn, boost stocks.

Northwest Seaport Alliance reports January exports dropped 13.4% year-over-year.

Jefferies senior analyst Randy Giveans outlines why it is now a particularly good time to buy container-shipping stocks.

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative’s road map to sustainability includes financial, social and environmental sustainability factors.

Today’s container market chaos underscores the need for enforceable ocean contracts as opposed to loose agreements, argues consultant Tom Craig.

Ocean Audit’s Steve Ferreira and AutoZone’s Jack Conaghan discuss how beneficial cargo owners should strategize contracts and containers during 2021.

Lina Jasutiene, managing director and founder of Recoupex and a former lawyer for the shipping line MSC, explains what shippers can do to successfully pursue damage claims. She talks to Steve Ferreira, the CEO of Ocean Audit, during a fireside chat at FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week.

Maritime regulators warn the Houston port agency against restrictions that could hamper the Gulf Coast container trade.

The bosses of public dry bulk shipping companies claim that recent market oddities point to good times ahead.

“American customers will be able to choose to transport their goods using LNG, a new technology that helps to preserve air quality by eliminating almost all atmospheric pollutants,” said CMA CGM CEO Rodolphe Saadé.

California will boost testing procedures to enforce distillate fuel regulations.

Evan Efstathiou discusses why VCs are looking to invest more in maritime just as shipowners are looking to partner more with startups.

Ocean Audit CEO Steve Ferreira chats with Vanguard Logistics Services Vice President Stephanie Loomis about what importers and beneficial cargo owners can expect as they undergo contract negotiations with the ocean carriers this year.

The Global Secure Shipping project began after 9/11 when the government sought increased security at ports. This fireside chat explores the customs, weight, six-sided security and visibility benefits of smart containers.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel discusses the agency’s options in regulating rates and service amid the booming U.S. container supply chain.

The commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star talks about the commercial challenges and opportunities in the Arctic.

Gordon Downes, CEO of New York Shipping Exchange, joins Ocean Audit’s head Steve Ferreira to chat about structural changes in container shipping and the place two-way committed contracts have in the industry.

BIMCO’s Peter Sand discusses whether container shipping’s ‘new normal’ has legs and what’s next for the sector.

Amazon may get the headlines for promising fast deliveries, but if it can’t get the product from overseas, the efficiency of trucks and delivery vans won’t make a difference.

The ocean carrier has not said when customers can expect to receive damaged or intact cargo.

Suvrat Joshi joins logistics software-as-a-service platform FarEye as chief product officer.

Philip Damas, managing director at Drewry Shipping Consultants, and Andy Gillespie, director of global logistics at Ansell Healthcare Products, chat about the current port congestion and how the situation can be corrected.

1996: At 1,044 feet (318.2 meters) long, the new Maersk ships are longer than the Eiffel tower, but they are still capable of a high speed of 25 knots.

Shipping experts chat about the COVID-19 supply chain and how consumer e-commerce demand has impacted seasonality and congestion in freight.

“Importers are exhausted” and foundation change is necessary, says Flexport’s Sanne Manders.

Globalization isn’t just driven by comparative advantage. It is skewed by subsidies and mispricing of risk, according to author Marc Levinson.

Airfreight markets are topsy-turvy in the COVID era, but importers and exporters can count on one thing: paying two to three times normal rates. CFOs will have to increase their transport budgets if they want goods to move quickly.

Duncan Wright, president at UWL, shares advice for shippers navigating difficult challenges, from port congestion to carrier contracts.

AgTC’s Peter Friedmann said Hapag-Lloyd’s Rolf Habben Jansen failed to mention in a press conference that the container shipping lines are enjoying record profits “while pushing their customers into real financial trouble, some towards bankruptcy.”

FreightWaves is bringing back its in-person events this year with the F3: Future of Freight Festival in November, celebrating all things freight in a communitywide celebration throughout the city of Chattanooga.

It’s not just small and midsized importers that face massive contract rate hikes. Even the biggest shippers will feel the pain.