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.
Container ships have forsaken the Red Sea route but many bulk commodity vessels continue to transit the danger zone.
A growing number of ship operators are refusing to transit the Red Sea and taking a very long detour around Africa instead.
Container-ship route diversions — first to avoid the Panama Canal, now to avoid Red Sea chaos — could help offset rate pressure from newbuilding deliveries.
Panama’s drought initially affected transits through the smaller locks. The pain has now spread to the larger Neopanamax locks.
Next year, U.S. importers must navigate canal restrictions, diversions from the Red Sea, more canceled sailings and, possibly, a port strike.
Imports have held up surprisingly well this year, but peak season’s end and canal restrictions are finally curbing volumes.
As the Panama Canal scales back on reservation slots, more ships without reservations wait longer to get through.
Union Pacific is seeking to beef up its intermodal offerings via a terminal in Phoenix and the addition of destinations for its on-dock rail service at Port Houston.
MSC, the world’s largest shipping line, faces the largest-ever shipper claim for alleged damages suffered during the supply chain crisis.
There has been a surge of attacks and threats targeting Israel-linked ships, including one incident where the U.S. Navy came to the rescue.
Time is running out for container lines as contract rate renewal season nears and spot rates fail to recover.
Panama Canal restrictions force more ships to transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen, where they face a hijacking risk.
Belgium-based logistics provider Katoen Natie is expanding warehousing and rail facilities at its Norfolk, Virginia, operations, to support the export market for plastic resins.
Terminal operator ICTSI has not given up its quest for tens of millions in damages from the West Coast longshore union.
Despite a 22% volume decline year over year, the Port of Savannah had its fourth-busiest October, according to the Georgia Ports Authority.
The era of rapid Chinese growth and large-scale government intervention is over, says China Beige Book CEO Leland Miller.
Zim’s headline loss looks ugly, but most of the decline was non-cash and it still has ample reserves to weather the downcycle.
Project freight forwarder deugro has opened a container terminal in Baytown, Texas, along the Houston Ship Channel.
A fleet of container vessels is up for sale as a company backed by Greece’s Evangelos Marinakis switches its bets to LNG shipping.
Cargo volumes are holding up, but rising transport capacity is outpacing demand, pushing container shipping rates even lower.
Canadian railway CN, the Mississippi State Port Authority and Ports America have signed a memorandum of understanding for an intermodal service at the Port of Gulfport.
Containerized imports have rebounded strongly in 2023, with October volumes up 33% from February’s low.
The union representing East and Gulf Coast dockworkers warned members to prepare for a possible strike starting Oct. 1, 2024.
“This is not a diet. This is a resetting of the baseline,” said Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc on his company’s job cuts.
The water crisis at the Panama Canal is getting worse and will force more ships to take much longer routes.
Profits being reported by container shipping lines are down from the stratosphere but many still surpass pre-COVID returns.
Now that port labor unrest is over, West Coast container terminals are starting to claw back some of their lost volumes.
Cargo volumes showed mixed results for Gulf Coast ports in September, with Houston reporting container declines, New Orleans seeing gains and Corpus Christi getting a boost from crude oil shipments.
“The table is set to scale up as demand increases,” said Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority is starting construction on a project that will increase rail-to-container transloading at the Canadian port, particularly for agricultural, forestry and plastic resin products.
Officials from Nexxiot and Deloitte talk with FreightWaves in this Q&A about how combining data on container movements and a container’s financial streams can help ward off illicit trade.
Cosco earned more than $800 million in the third quarter, while one analyst expects Zim to lose more than $200 million.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX are seeking approval from the Surface Transportation Board to acquire some of the assets of short line Meridian & Bigbee Railroad. They plan to beef up an Alabama interchange as part of an effort to create a Mexico-Southeast corridor.
The Port of Montreal has received funding from Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund to build a new terminal aimed at boosting the port’s container handling capacity.
Geopolitics has always been a key driver of global shipping markets. How could the war in Israel affect rates?
Peak season demand propelled imports higher in September, although softening spot rates point to a fourth-quarter slowdown.
The Chapter 11 filing of the ILWU dockworkers union dates back to a dispute over two electrician jobs in Oregon a decade ago.
Just when it looked like West Coast port labor drama had dissipated, the ILWU has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported a dip in August volumes at the Port of Savannah. But volume increases for rail traffic and roll-on/roll-off cargo were bright sports for GPA last month.
Inflation and economic fallout from the war are curbing demand just as a tidal wave of new ship supply hits the water.
The recent rate rebound turned out to be fleeting. As rates deteriorate yet again, shipping lines face mounting losses.
Although container volumes were down at the Port of Charleston year over year, South Carolina Ports’ Inland Port Greer saw record volumes in August.
Although the U.S. supply chain may no longer be imperiled by the pandemic-era chassis shortage, companies should still act in response to expectations that e-commerce and global trade will only continue to grow, according to the president and CEO of Trac Intermodal.
The supply chain crisis is over, but exporters are still paying more — and facing more logistical challenges — than they did before the pandemic.
The plot thickens in the legal battle between Bed Bath & Beyond and container lines. More carriers are in the crosshairs.
The Panama Canal Authority on Tuesday suspended bookings for super vessels through Sept. 30 in its latest measure to remove a backlog waiting to traverse the canal.
Canadian railway CN and Norfolk Southern are partnering to create a domestic intermodal service that will connect Canadian customers with markets in the U.S. Southeast.
Now that supply chains are back to normal, the typical effects of seasonality have returned, bringing U.S. imports up.
The new service will provide a direct connection from the Port of Savannah to CSX’s intermodal terminal in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Fuel costs were overshadowed by skyrocketing freight rates amid the supply chain crisis. Now, fuel costs are much more important.
Have shipping stocks been a good bet? Here’s a look at their performance year to date and versus pre-COVID.
Asia-U.S. spot shipping rates have pulled back after a strong run-up, implying peak season may have passed its peak.
The Florida Legislature is providing $30 million for two new ship-to-shore cranes that Jaxport says will let more cargo move efficiently through the Port of Jacksonville.
Average CEO compensation rose as ocean shipping company earnings increased, fueled in many cases by share-based compensation.
Panama’s drought poses a serious challenge to the country’s canal operations, but fallout to global trade remains limited.
Freight booking platform Freightos is working to reduce its cash burn as it continues to grow and add new products.
July volumes at the Port of Charleston and South Carolina Ports rose 12% from June and 3% year over year.
Unprecedented supply-demand imbalances amid the pandemic led to historic dividend payouts by container shipping lines.
Rail volumes to and from the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are returning to normal after the 13-day strike in July, although capacity to catch up on the backlog appears limited for now, according to RailState’s analysis of its data.
Spot ocean shipping rates from Europe to the U.S. held up much longer than trans-Pacific rates. Now they’ve sunk to historic lows.
Zim lost $213 million in the second quarter. Will rising trans-Pacific spot rates help it reverse course in the third?
Looking ahead, Taiwanese ocean carrier Yang Ming said that “the overall momentum for economic recovery over the next two years still appears relatively weak.”
Container volumes in July rose sequentially by 17% but were down by 16% year over year at the Port of Savannah, the Georgia Ports Authority said Thursday.
Ocean carrier HMM attributed much of its first-half net-profit nosedive of 90% to overcapacity in the container shipping industry.
“Weaker demand and lower freight rates are having a very noticeable impact on our earnings,” said Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.
Containerized imports are rising seasonally, as expected. This year is on track to top pre-pandemic volumes by low single digits.
Investors in Danaos thought they were buying a container shipping stock. Now they’re invested in dry bulk, too.
After double-digit gains since June, trans-Pacific spot rates have just surpassed contract rates, according to Xeneta data.
Mediterranean Shipping Co., the largest ocean carrier in the world, is expanding its fledgling air cargo airline with an acquisition.
Despite upgrading its full-year outlook, container shipping giant Maersk no longer sees a second-half demand rebound.
Shipping lines are seeing higher cargo volumes and successfully integrating newly built vessels into their fleets, says Textainer’s CEO.
“It is extremely difficult to announce a reasonable business forecast at this time,” said ONE, citing container shipping market uncertainties.
Because container liner profits plummeted off an extraordinarily high peak, some carriers are still posting hefty profits despite huge declines.
Despite ongoing controversy over shareholder treatment, analyst Michael Webber says shipping is doing a better job.
Two of the top three global logistics powers took a big profit haircut during the second quarter and aren’t very optimistic about a seasonal upturn in shipping.
A decline in loaded import volumes pulled the Georgia Ports Authority’s overall 2023 volumes lower.
After rapidly expanding its fleet during the boom, ocean carrier Zim is backpedaling and shedding ships.
Container lines did not manage post-boom vessel capacity as well as expected. In the trans-Pacific, they may be belatedly getting the hang of it.
Expectations for peak season have waned, but container lines may have bounced off the bottom.
Spreads between high- and low-sulfur fuels are down to pandemic levels and LNG has become much more economical.
Mediterranean Shipping Co. is part of a new breed of ocean carriers trying their hand as cargo airlines.
Shipowners have invested billions in the LNG fuel option in the belief that it will benefit regulatory compliance and the environment.
Fiscal year 2023 volumes tracked more with 2021 volumes than with 2022, which had experienced an unprecedented cargo boom, according to South Carolina Ports.
U.S. rail imports from Vancouver and Prince Rupert are imperiled again. ILWU Canada has rejected the proposed dockworkers contract.
Shipping stocks in sectors with high deliveries of new ships are doing better than those with low orderbooks.
The extended strike in western Canada was beginning to affect U.S. supply chains. Its resolution limits the fallout.
Sulfur pollution addressed by IMO 2020 created a health risk, but that pollution had a cooling effect, which has now been reduced.
The agreement should keep tanker and bulker orders in check, while increasing the risk of a future carbon tax on container shippers.
June volumes of containerized imports were higher than normal and the National Retail Federation predicts more gains ahead.
U.S. imports via Canadian ports face rising fallout as the war of words escalates between dockworkers and employers.
As the labor strike continues at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, Class I railroads are taking steps to ensure that their networks face minimal disruptions.
Two New Jersey firefighters died fighting a blaze aboard the Grimaldi car carrier Grande Costa d’Avorio at Port Newark on Wednesday night.
Sluggish demand is capping shipping lines’ income. In response, at least one carrier is reportedly moving to limit losses on legacy charters.
Declining demand for Chinese exports and reduced stimulus options threaten bulk commodity import prospects.
The Wagner mutiny is drawing attention to what happens after the war in Ukraine ends. When it does, shipping will see major changes.
The Port of Cleveland thinks it has the capabilities to grow its footprint.
Concerns over highly dilutive share offerings by microcap shipowners have been building for years. The debate just intensified.
Trans-Pacific spot shipping rates remain under pressure, slumping back again as U.S. import demand comes up short.
The U.S. supply chain has dodged a bullet. A new dockworker labor deal will keep the peace at West Coast ports.
“Patience is wearing thin. Neither side imagined it would take this long,” says the head of the Port of LA on dockworker contract talks.
