Shipping

Los Angeles continues to face a double whammy of sinking demand and fears over the port labor contract that expired in July.

The recognition by the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey “is reserved for those who have made a lasting difference in our industry and helped advance all aspects of the global transportation industry.”

Ocean carrier revenues fell sharply in the fourth quarter versus the third and continued sinking in January.

Sanctions have split the world’s tanker fleet in two. On one side, those that follow Western rules; on the other, those that don’t.

After a bounce in January, containerized imports could drop this month to the lowest level since May 2020.

Ocean carrier Maersk sees a rough second half of the year, when remaining support from contract rates “will disappear.”

The reversion in spot rates is pulling down contract rates, with a significantly delayed effect on ocean carrier earnings.

The tanker industry has a storied history of corporate showdowns. The latest, a three-way tussle involving Euronav, looks far from over.

The 2M partnership between MSC and Maersk — which is breaking up — is the smallest of the three alliances. The Ocean Alliance is much larger.

Container shipping rates from Europe to the U.S. are finally falling, but they’re still exceptionally high.

Russian crude restrictions are having the predicted effect on tanker trades, soaking up more vessel capacity as sailing distance lengthens.

Speculation is swirling on how the end of a global container shipping alliance will affect ocean carriers and cargo shippers.

Shipping services around the globe will be reconfigured after the top two carriers end their vessel-sharing agreement.

Are falling commodity shipping spot rates the result of normal seasonality or a symptom of global economic malaise?

American imports remain a tale of two coasts, with continued strength in container volumes headed to Atlantic ports.

Imports continue to decline and are close to where they were before COVID-19, but the coastal mix is very different.

Sanctions on Russian crude exports have yet to boost tanker rates. Some question whether sanctions on Russian diesel will either.

The East and Gulf coasts combined have overtaken the West Coast in port market share, but there are limitations the East needs to deal with, said panelists at a meeting of the Transportation Research Board.

Remaining queues of waiting ships are dwindling, another sign that supply chain pressure is winding down.

The top 10 liner operators hiked aggregate capacity by 13% in 2000-22 and continue to control 85% of the global fleet.

As cars gained popularity, ships were converted and built specifically for transporting vehicles overseas.

The predicted boost to tanker rates from Russian crude disruptions has yet to materialize. Instead, rates have declined.

Just as the pandemic wound down, another market-altering event for shipping — the Ukraine-Russia war — ramped up.

Container shipping lines are gradually getting their services back on schedule, but they still have a long way to go.

Trans-Pacific spot rates fell first. Trans-Atlantic spot rates and Asia-U.S. contract rates look like they’re next in line.

Backers of a shipping regulation that begins Jan. 1 believe it will reduce carbon emissions. Critics warn it could backfire and increase them.

By the start of the 1900s, about 40 U.S.-flag ships were operated by the country’s lumber titans, proving to the industry at the time that marine transport was more efficient than rail.

The U.S. could seek forfeiture of the MSC Gayane, a large ship involved in an infamous smuggling operation, says Bloomberg Businessweek.

Containerized imports to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have now fallen well below pre-COVID levels.

November saw another double-digit drop in America’s containerized imports, driven by sinking volumes from Asia.

Shipping giant Maersk changes leadership as it transitions from a period of massive profits to one of challenging market conditions.

Faster easing of China’s COVID restrictions could provide eventual support for container and dry bulk markets and a more immediate boost for tankers.

GCT will sell its terminal operations in Staten Island, New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, to shipping giant CMA CGM.

Declining ship fuel prices equate to savings for containerized cargo shippers and lower costs for tanker and bulker owners.

Spot shipping rates continue their historic slide, putting even more pressure on container lines’ contract business.

Even if no oil moves under price caps, Russian exports could face deep discounts and continue to flow via “shadow tankers.”

Hopes that China will relax its zero-COVID policy are fading, raising concerns about shipping volume fallout.

Southern California’s container-ship logjam ends as congestion eases at East and Gulf Coast ports.

Ocean carriers have been shielded by lucrative annual contracts with cargo shippers, but contract coverage is starting to crumble.

Stratospheric LNG shipping rates offer a lesson on the do’s and don’ts of measuring earnings momentum.

Global energy trades face even more tumult ahead. “This could get crazy,” says Scorpio Tankers’ Robert Bugbee.

FreightWaves Classics examines storied ocean carrier U.S. Lines, which was persistent in its desire to operate a successful cargo ship named the American Shipper.

Earnings for Zim, the world’s 10th largest ocean carrier, peaked in the first quarter and continue to slide as rates fall.

The CEOs of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern on Tuesday talked up the benefits of their railroad consolidation at the RailTrends conference in New York.

The head of Los Angeles’ port is on a worldwide sales blitz, trying to convince shippers and carriers to come back.

Drop in imports from China in recent months comes on the heels of years of gains by exporters in the rest of Asia.

Container shipping fundamentals are not as bad as spot rates imply, says the head of the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier.

Imports remain 7% higher than pre-pandemic levels, with volumes steadying last month after September’s plunge.

Some VLGCs carrying propane and VLCCs carrying crude have joined LNG carriers in shipping’s six-figures-per-day club.

Europe must replace all seaborne crude imports from Russia within the next few weeks. Crude tanker owners stand to gain.

Maersk’s guidance implies fourth-quarter earnings will plunge 39% compared to the third-quarter peak.

Product-tanker share prices are up triple digits year to date as investors position for sanctions upside.

The world’s seventh-largest ocean carrier expects profits to fall, yet its projections remain vastly higher than pre-COVID levels.

Jaxport CEO Eric Green said the $23.5 million grant “marks a milestone in our initiatives to build the port of the future and move cargo in the most efficient and eco-friendly way possible.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding the Port of Long Beach a $30.1 million grant to replace diesel yard tractors with zero-emissions cargo-handling equipment.

Spot rate indexes look like they’re stabilizing — at least temporarily — after double-digit plunges in August and September.

The “shadow fleet” is not large enough to save Russian oil exports from Western sanctions, according to multiple analysts.

Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd, gives his take on the “bullwhip effect,” rates and global trade.

FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller provides insight into 2022’s peak season.

“At MSC, we want to continue to improve towage service efficiency and expand Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, building on the impressive work of the Genoese families that have developed the company the past 100 years,” MSC CEO Soren Toft said.

Shipping lines face a minefield of surging capacity and sinking demand, but there is a path to safety, claims one industry expert.

Southern California ports are being hit by double-digit import drops as the COVID-19 cargo boom winds down.

As container shipping stocks get battered by collapsing rates, tanker shares could be poised for a long bull run.

An overview of Day 1 of F3: Future of Freight Festival.

Declining imports have led to fewer container ships waiting off ports, injecting more capacity into the market, a negative for spot rates.

Supply chain planners will walk a precarious path in 2023, according to S&P Global transportation expert Paul Bingham.

New disclosures by Asian ocean carriers confirm that container shipping lines remain extraordinarily profitable.

Demand for Asian goods began dropping earlier this year. This is now having a delayed — and highly negative — effect on U.S. imports.

Major ocean carriers are likely to survive the ongoing dip in shipping rates. But other companies may soon struggle.

Shipping adheres to a time-honored tradition: When shipowners make exceptionally high profits, they order a lot of new vessels. When those newbuilds are delivered by the yards, it kills shipowners’ […]

With war raging and pipelines sabotaged, shippers are paying astronomical sums to transport LNG across the oceans.

Measures of supply chain bottlenecks, cargo transit times, bookings and spot rates are all down, yet inflation remains historically high.

Supply-demand dynamics that supercharged pandemic-era rates are now “exactly the opposite,” says Maersk CEO Soren Skou.

Hurricane Ian came ashore in Fort Myers, Florida, just before noon Wednesday. Transportation is starting to feel the impact, with road and port closures in effect.

The EU is going to ban imports of Russian crude and petroleum products. It still has a long way to go to find replacement supplies.

The Georgia Ports Authority’s board on Tuesday agreed to spend $60 million on further development at the Colonel’s Island Terminal.

The U.S. Coast Guard has closed three key ports around the Tampa Bay area in anticipation of Hurricane Ian’s landfall.

The G-7 plan to squeeze Russia’s oil profits hinges on the EU revising its own sanctions. Those revisions face opposition.

East and Gulf coast ports handled more volume than ever before in August, pulling far ahead of West Coast rivals.

Retailers are coming together to send demand signals for zero-carbon shipping fuels.

FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller outlines how FreightWaves SONAR pointed to the global freight recession months ago.

Container lines are pulling back fast from the ship-leasing market, signaling less confidence in future freight income.

Container shipping rates — particularly from Asia to the U.S. — are still falling hard and show no sign of finding a floor.

U.S. containerized imports are still near record highs, but not in Los Angeles, where they’ve fallen sharply.

“Right now, shipping companies around the world are looking at this and scratching their heads,” says sanctions expert Bruce Paulsen.

Tanker stocks are proving to be a shelter from the Wall Street storm as demand grows for ships that transport oil and natural gas.

Spot container rates for U.S.-bound cargoes are falling fast, yet import numbers at U.S. ports remain near their peak.

Shipping volumes are weakening in and out of China. Is this a temporary pullback or a sign of more serious trouble ahead?

Container and dry bulk shares soared last year, leaving tanker stocks behind. This pattern has now reversed.

The soybean associations say helping offset construction costs of AG Procressing’s terminal expansion at the Port of Grays Harbor will help soybean exporters in the long run.

If the U.S. curbed gasoline and diesel exports, tankers would sail longer distances to replace lost volumes — a plus for tanker earnings.

California’s container-ship traffic jam is almost gone, replaced by stubbornly high backlogs off the East and Gulf coasts.

Just two supertankers have been ordered in the past 14 months, raising the risk of a future shortfall in oil transport capacity.

The Russia-Ukraine war caused demand for LNG to surge. Owners of LNG carriers are in prime position to profit this winter.

The cost of marine fuels is down sharply from the wartime peak, except for ‘clean’ LNG, which is getting even more expensive.

Spot rates on most global shipping routes continue to fall. The trans-Atlantic market is the exception: It’s holding firm near its high.

U.S. imports accelerated in July, with inbound cargo from China reaching a year-to-date high, according to Descartes.

With East Coast ship queues high, port executive Gene Seroka says: “For cargo owners looking to rechart their course, come to Los Angeles.”

Trans-Pacific spot container shipping rates continue to head lower. Zim appears more at risk than some of its rivals.

Rates and sentiment in dry bulk shipping have fallen hard. Economic pressures in China appear to be a major culprit.