The global shipping industry is constantly evolving, and the COVID-19 pandemic began a marked shift in how container shipping operates. Disruption caused by the pandemic has forced the industry to expand its capacity and reduce costs to remain profitable.
At the peak of the pandemic, containers essentially stopped moving. As manufacturers went into lockdown and closed factories, many of the containers used to ship those manufactured goods were left stranded at ports or storage depots, where they weren’t needed. Simultaneously, freight shippers were reducing the number of vessels in use due to the manufacturing slowdown. This limited global shipping capacity and disrupted the worldwide flow of containers and goods. As a result, some regions were left with an excess of stored containers, while other places were left with no containers at all.
As the pandemic slowed and the global economy began to rebound, labor shortages and congestion at ports have left many of these stored containers stuck where they aren’t needed. Now, instead of a shortage of shipping containers, the industry is dealing with too many. Many container storage depots are turning away new clients due to lack of space, and some shippers are even giving containers away to make room. Blank and cancelled sailings are increasing as well, as shippers decide to skip a port or cancel a trip altogether in order to manage changes in demand and capacity.
Check back here for the latest news and insights on the state of the container shipping industry. You can also visit our maritime news archive to learn more about cargo shipping, or our American Shipper archive for air cargo shipping industry news.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.”
It’s not just small and midsized importers that face massive contract rate hikes. Even the biggest shippers will feel the pain.
AgTC’s Peter Freidmann highlights the hurdles U.S. food exporters confront as they vie for containers to transport their goods.
“There’s tremendous opportunity for Florida-bound cargo,” says JAXPORT CEO Eric Green during his State of the Port address Tuesday.
Container shipping line CMA CGM wants to be an airline too. Its new air cargo unit has identified Chicago as its first destination and is giving preferential space on its aircraft to subsidiary CEVA Logistics.
Jon Gold, the vice president of supply chain and customer policy with the National Retail Federation, sits down for a fireside chat withWeston LaBarof the Harbor Trucking Association to discuss the backup in the port of Long Beach/Los Angeles.
The Maersk Eindhoven, which lost 260 containers overboard, is slated to berth for repairs in Japan on Thursday.
Kuehne + Nagel is the second-largest logistics services provider in the world. It just got bigger, swallowing up Hong Kong’s Apex International.
More than 2,900 containers have gone overboard just since the end of November.
“We have really a perfect storm of demand that’s surging like there’s no tomorrow, everybody needing to get the boxes back, COVID-related restrictions,” says Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.
Six cases of at-sea container losses have been reported in less than three months.
“If we do nothing, we will still have vessels at anchor come midsummer,” says Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka.
Cargo shippers hamstrung by the global container shortage should not expect a box building spree in China to come to their rescue.
It’s not just container stocks rising. Shipping stocks are up for everything from bulkers to tankers to gas carriers.
Preeti Pande, the hydrogen solution provider’s chief marketing officer, comes with extensive fuel cell industry experience and a Ph.D.
More venture capital flowing to maritime tech startups – and more shipping companies giving those startups a trial run.
Ocean carriers as airlines? No one thought an online retailer would own a private airline until Amazon did it. The ocean carrier also owns a logistics company. You connect the dots.
Kritikos launched Ceres Terminals in 1958 and sold the company to NYK in 2002.
Lending a hand includes everything from improving the environment to funding community initiatives to rescuing a skier mauled by a bear.
S.F. Express is growing its domestic Chinese parcel business at a dizzying rate. The acquisition of a large Hong Kong logistics company helps it expand overseas.
Leaf Logistics CEO Anshu Prasad believes manufacturers of food and consumer packaged goods could be in jeopardy of missing earnings expectations as transportation rates remained elevated throughout the quarter.
Here’s a helicopter view courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard of container-ship armada off Los Angeles and Long Beach (WITH VIDEO).
ZIM, newest Wall Street shipping entrant, is riding wave of record-high freight rates. Shares fully recovered from rocky start.
JAXPORT says strong demand for vehicles and consumer goods contributed to a solid first fiscal quarter.
Due to shipping snarl and container congestions, delays in retail inventories will be felt from Christmas through Easter.
Maersk, the world’s largest container carrier, just reported record quarterly results. And its next quarter looks even better.
Inland Port Greer records its best January and ocean-carried container moves increase year-over-year.
Third-party logistics provider Radiant Logistics beat expectations for its second fiscal quarter. The company’s improved results and low-debt profile are allowing it to pursue acquisitions.
Korean container carrier HMM expects equipment and capacity shortages to continue at least through the end of the first quarter.
The Port of Long Beach may need to start filling out its record book in pencil as new numbers keep replacing those on top.
“ZEBOX will assist innovative startups in developing new technologies in transportation, logistics, mobilities and industry 4.0,” says CMA CGM CEO Rodolphe Saadé.
The discharging of damaged containers continues nearly two months after the storm-battered ONE Apus arrived in Japan.
Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero delivers a melodious annual report.
California calls on feds to protect exporters. Shipping groups claim California export cure will worsen congestion — including for importers.
“It’s been really easy to get the band back together,” says CEO Jason Provonsha.
Ocean Network Express takes giant profitability leap — from $5 million to $944 million year-over-year.
Call Cainiao the Amazon Logistics of China. When most of China normally takes a break for the Lunar New Year, Cainiao will still be delivering packages to Hong Kong this year.
Container lines score huge negotiating advantage as spot-rate surge set to persist through annual contract season.
“Demand in the intermodal and trucking sectors is at an all-time high, which makes this an ideal time to optimize FYX’s many assets and take it to the next level,” says new CEO Kenneth Forster.
1999: To avoid the costs and delays of processing stowaways at destination ports, some ships’ crews have been known to shove stowaways overboard and set them adrift at sea.
ZIM just completed the first U.S. shipping IPO in over five years. Here’s a look back at shipping’s wild multidecade ride on Wall Street.
China’s latest maritime measure to control the spread of the coronavirus will add to the clog of containers at ports.
Hapag-Lloyd credits higher freight rates and lower bunker prices as “the main drivers of these positive business developments.”
Asia-U.S. liner sailings are now being canceled because too many container ships are stuck at anchor off California.
U.S. ports have seen “month-over-month strength across multiple business segments.”
The Georgia Ports Authority is adding capacity in anticipation of another busy year.
In Africa, one seafarer is dead and 15 have been kidnapped. Worldwide, more seafarers are being barred from travel as COVID fears rise.
“Not only are we at the height of the Christmas season, but we’re at the height of the Y2K concern as well. Importers and major trading houses are trying to move their goods now to beat any chance of problems with the changeover to the new millennium.”
Nearly 700 dockworkers in California have COVID. Hundreds more are out due to quarantines. Pleas for fast-track vaccinations intensify.
FreightWaves identifies importers who use the Asia-West Coast service.
Ocean carrier ZIM has hiked its fleet capacity with new charters and is planning to price its New York IPO next week.
“These best practices are needed now more than ever to relieve pressure on the supply chain due to the ongoing surge,” Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka says.
Asia-West Coast spot rates are up 173% year on year. Rail and trucking volumes from ports are up double digits.
Higher fuel prices are bad news for box shippers. Higher fuel spreads are good news for owners with scrubber-fitted fleets.
The 8,113,315 TEUs moved in 2020 stacked up as a record year for the Port of Long Beach.
The December rates subindex jumped 13% year-over-year, setting the stage for big rate hikes in 2021, according to Cass data.
“The way we responded to the challenges, kept commerce moving and preserved jobs is a story that we will all remember for a long time to come,” says Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka during his State of the Port address.
There are more container ships stuck off California than at any time since 2004. What’s behind the pileup? When can it be cleared?
Deutsche Post DHL’s Express and E-Commerce units report strong numbers.
Thanks to a resurgence of imports that began in late summer, Port Houston moved 2,989,347 TEUs in 2020.
An electronic bill of lading must be in a format that ensures interoperability across multiple user interfaces.
The opening of the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal and deepening of Charleston Harbor are expected to make for an even brighter 2021.
Even after a wave of just-ordered container ships is delivered by yards, cargo shippers are unlikely to see lower freight rates.
The division of work between state employees and union members at the new South Carolina container terminal goes to the labor board.
A Biden administration teamed with a Democratic Congress should lead to even more stimulus, a recipe for even more container imports.
Like clockwork, liner operators sharply reduce their sailings each year during the Chinese New Year holiday. Not in 2021.
Successful IPO by ZIM would offer investors direct exposure to trans-Pacific freight-rate craziness, but not without risks from debt load.
Cranes arrive, environmental prizes are awarded and cruise ships are welcomed.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is committed to fluid operations during cargo surges.
Railcar lessor GATX acquires tank container lessor Trifleet in 175 million euro deal.
Asia-U.S. container rates had held firm at a record high since September. Now they’re on the move again — and headed even higher.
A look back at 2020’s shipping roller coaster: how container sector emerged as ‘surprise rock star’ and tankers peaked early, then plunged.
Ocean carrier Maersk says it is “working closely with the Agriculture Transportation Coalition and local trucking associations to address their concerns of equipment availability and detention and demurrage issues.”
Hapag-Lloyd and ONE have ordered 12 ultra large container ships, all of which will be able to carry more than 23,500 TEUs.
Top 10 lists dominate the end of any year. American Shipper’s Top 10 stories list is voted on throughout the year by readers simply by reading our stories on americanshipper.com. Here are the stories you read the most in 2020.
