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.
Pandemic gridlock, the Ever Given, COVID outbreaks, container shortages, flooding, Ukraine. The next shoe to drop: a labor dispute.
The South Atlantic Chassis Pool 3.0, will be ready in October 2023 and will have 60,000 chassis available.
Container lines and tanker owners rapidly and preemptively suspend business with Russia.
Container lines, shipowners and shippers have a new way to navigate the market chaos: cleared freight futures.
The container port business is booming and the big are getting bigger, particularly in China.
Georgia Ports Authority outlined projects that would take container capacity to 9.5 million TEUs by 2025.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine this week has caused uncertainty not just for the energy markets but also for global agricultural trade.
The port chaos cocktail: Mix 12 months of container bottlenecks with contentious contract talks for dockworkers.
The railroad says it is taking steps to grow capacity, both on its network and in places where more volumes need to push through, such as Charleston, South Carolina.
There are now more container ships waiting off East and Gulf Coast ports than there are off Los Angeles/Long Beach.
Several trade and transport groups claim ocean carriers should lose special antitrust privileges and face stricter regulatory enforcement of shipping laws.
Tanker and dry bulk trades could be disrupted; container shipping faces heightened risk of cyberattacks.
Some big ports are import focused. The Port of Oakland is a big export port. It is trying to restore the traditional import/export balance.
“Efforts to successfully move aging cargo out of shipping terminals” improve the picture at California’s San Pedro Bay ports.
CEO Rodolphe Saadé said CMA CGM “will transform the Beirut port’s container terminal into a state-of-the-art facility that meets the best international standards.”
The more ocean shipping is in the news, the more attention it gets from tech founders and investors.
“Removing plastic waste is a priority when discussing the protection of our oceans and conserving biodiversity,” CMA CGM Group said.
After last year’s historic run-up, factories are producing fewer containers and pricing of new boxes is down.
“Everything we have sails. Every box we have we try to move,” says Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.
Ceres Terminals will lease, operate and modernize the TraPac Jacksonville terminal in a $60 million deal.
A one-on-one talk with the head of maritime operations for the Port of New York/New Jersey.
Jefferies analyst Randy Giveans maintains that container shipping stocks still have a lot more room to run.
Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber and Steve Ferreira, CEO of Ocean Audit Inc., discuss international shipping on Monday during FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week.
Xeneta CEO Patrik Berglund explains how carrier negotiating power has changed the annual contracting equation.
Long-term contract rates are at record highs. Shipping lines hold all the cards at the negotiating table.
They can take my gravy when they pry it from my cold, greasy skillet.
COVID container boom continues: Maersk may earn even more this year than in record-trouncing 2021.
The Port of Savannah has seen monthly port records for the past 18 months.
January marks the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year container records, according to SC Ports.
The number of ships waiting off Los Angeles/Long Beach fell 23% over the past week.
The cost of ship fuel looks like it’s about to topple records set in 2012 and 2008.
Accusations fly as shipping lines rake in billions, but the numbers imply more carrier competition, not less.
Barring an economic downturn, U.S. demand could still be squeezing ports a year from now.
Carrier profits are reaching previously unimaginable heights as supply chain disruptions supercharge gains.
E-commerce is becoming an increasing area of focus for some ocean carriers.
The investments rely on expectations that customers will want easy or green access to railroads’ intermodal offerings.
The FTC wants to know if large corporations are engaging in anticompetitive supply chain practices.
SoCal imports suffering multimonth slide, not because of falling demand, but because of supply chain bottlenecks.
The Port of Savannah handled a record 5.6 million TEUs in 2021.
MSC, a giant shipping line, wants to buy an Italian airline. If successful, it will then be in the passenger airline and air cargo businesses.
An attack on Ukraine could hike costs for shipowners and cargo shippers across the globe.
Family comes first for Lionel van der Walt, who has left PayCargo.
Kubed Living is turning shipping containers into homes, offices and gyms.
Could container shipping and tanker stocks end 2022 very differently than they began it?
“Historic, pandemic-induced import surge” drove record-smashing volume at the Port of Long Beach.
For bulk commodity shipping, a rough start to the year. For container shipping, the profit bonanza continues.
“The global supply chain will be further strained because of these lockdowns in China and the result would be a further gap in global demand and supply,” says Container xChange CEO Johannes Schlingmeier.
FedEx Logistics is the latest company to find an alternative to big-port congestion by taking freight business to the Port of Hueneme in California.
No letup yet: It’s taking even longer for Asian exports to get across Pacific to American buyers.
DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg touted holiday season wins at the ports of LA and Long Beach while addressing shipping-sector prices.
2021 was a banner year for The Port of Virginia, SC Ports and Alabama Port Authority.
More COVID control measures in China are impacting international goods movement.
Shares of Zim are flirting with a new peak while shares of ship-leasing, dry bulk and tanker companies lose ground.
The Biden administration wants consumer protection regulators to examine whether giant retailers are creating supply chain distortions for smaller businesses.
Popular interest in the supply chain may have faded, but the pileup of ships waiting offshore keeps growing.
A small COVID outbreak is curtailing industrial operations in the Chinese city of Ningbo and the port could soon feel the ripple effects.
New barometer from NY Federal Reserve highlights how extreme supply chain crunch has become.
Agriculture exporters on the West Coast are feeling neglected by ocean carriers. The Port of Oakland is trying to make more equipment available so they can ship their goods.
How could the consensus — that container spot rates will remain extremely high — be wrong?
Small ports were one solution for big-port problems in 2021. Shippers that could find a vessel were able to get their cargo processed quickly by shifting to a secondary port.
Port of Los Angeles is going vessel operators to clear out empty containers or else face big fines.
MSC sues Deere, patent owner sues six shipping lines, box-overboard cases pile up, and Hanjin’s ghost tries to collect.
The Federal Maritime Commission is ratcheting up pressure on ocean carriers to reduce logistical challenges for their customers.
Putting money on what American Shipper readers were clicking on in 2021 would be a safe bet.
There has never been a year like this for container shipping. Here are the biggest stories of 2021.
Twenty-five port projects in 19 states are receiving U.S. Maritime Administration grants aimed at bolstering port infrastructure.
Shipping lines are flush with cash and using it to expand into logistics services.
After an exceptional year for ocean shipping, the data points to more action ahead in 2022.
“Expectations are that high consumer demand and low inventory levels will keep rates elevated well into next year,” says Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta.
Maersk is becoming an integrated logistics goliath with the ability to provide freight management, transportation, warehousing and e-commerce fulfillment for big retailers and manufacturers.
Spot rates topped $300,000/day, sank to teens, rose to over $360,000, now back near $100,000.
The pilot program in Chicago and Kansas City aims to encourage trucks to come — and go — with a shipping container.
The latest example of an ocean carrier expanding into the logistics space involves MSC trying to buy a piece of Bolloré Logistics.
Carriers and shippers are turning to East Coast ports as Los Angeles/Long Beach remains mired in congestion.
The White House is asking carriers to play nice with exporters, but next year Congress may give it a hammer to use if shipping practices don’t change.
Port Hueneme is an example of a niche port that is attracting more container shipments because of bottlenecks at big seaports.
While the Port of Long Beach is still dealing with a lineup of container ships waiting to berth, it is looking ahead to providing more cargo visibility.
Import demand remains exceptionally strong but volumes through America’s largest port are falling.
SoCal port crunch “has really become as bad as it’s ever been,” reports industry veteran Jon Monroe.
November volumes rose nearly 4% year-over-year, although on a sequential basis, volumes fell nearly 9% from October.
After brief reprieve, trans-Pacific shipping rates head back up, pointing to ongoing supply chain pressure.
Some public shipowners are turning toward more diverse fleets. Others are moving in the opposite direction.
The Port of Savannah handled 6.7% more containers in November compared to a year ago, according to the Georgia Ports Authority.
The container shipping surge shows no signs of letup, but the Southern California ports say they are slowly clearing out the backlogs.
The number of ships waiting to berth at the Port of Vancouver reached 60 as congestion continues while rail service slowly recovers from storms.
Controversial plan to charge for containers lingering on terminals keeps getting delayed. Yet containers still linger.
South Carolina Ports experienced an all-time high for the number of containers handled in November amid higher import volumes.
Georgia port officials are engaged in what appears to be the largest current expansion of a port in North America.
Container, dry bulk and tanker stocks are down from recent highs. Temporary setback or something more?
Industry cooperation removing containers from the docks has convinced port officials to hold off imposing penalties for excess storage.
Radiant Logistics announced Monday that it acquired digital logistics services provider Navegate for $35 million.
A container vessel made an emergency call at a Mexican port so sailors could seek medical attention for COVID-19.
COVID exposed underlying chinks in the supply chain, especially at the ports. The White House has lit a fire under the industry’s feet to improve the container shipping system.
Marine Exchange now counts ships waiting farther out to sea, confirming just how big the backlog really is.
The terminal says it has “abundant space” at the Millennium Marine Rail facility in New Jersey, as well as competitive import dwell time.
Officials are creating unrealistic expectations that supply chains will be unplugged within weeks or months.
A union and a trucking company serving the Port of Vancouver reached a tentative agreement to give container drivers benefits and increased pay, averting a strike.
Despite claims to the contrary, the ship backlog is not getting smaller. Vessels are waiting on both sides of the Pacific.
The largest container terminal operator in the world is buying BDP, a midsize U.S. freight forwarder.
Major retailers and suppliers reassured the White House they have a handle on supply chain volatility and can meet consumer demand.
