Container Shipping

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.

Retail inventories jump ahead of the holiday buying season but the need for restocking will extend well into 2022, which bodes well for freight demand.

Drivers at one of two Port of Vancouver trucking companies facing a strike have reached a tentative agreement with their carrier.

Canada’s supply chain is in a “crisis situation” as over 50 ships wait to dock at the Port of Vancouver and CN struggles to restore service.

Container truckers at two carriers serving the Port of Vancouver are set to go on strike Friday over benefits and detention pay.

Southern California ports and private operators are using carrots and sticks to help eliminate a massive pileup of cargo.

Here’s how omicron variant could impact tanker, container and dry bulk shipping rates.

Innovation and investment are the watchwords at the Georgia Ports Authority, where officials are rushing to deal with supply chain constraints.

Double demurrage in Seattle: A terminal operator is adding a second layer of fees for extended container dwell times.

CN hasn’t been able to reopen its rail main link to the Port of Vancouver due to weather issues as large backlog of vessels continues.

Container truckers at two carriers serving the Port of Vancouver have voted to authorize a strike, threatening to bring more disruption as rail service resumes.

Record number of container ships waiting but they’re harder to see, as new plan spreads queue across Pacific.

Kuehne + Nagel is one of the largest, most profitable international freight management companies in the world. Its CEO announced he will leave next year.

Price of low-sulfur fuel is rising faster than high-sulfur fuel. Ships with scrubbers stand to gain.

Cargo is moving a bit more smoothly at the Southern California ports, giving officials reason to hold off assessing stiff storage fees.

Air Canada is adding cargo capacity equivalent in weight to 860 adult moose in and out of Vancouver.

The board of commissioners for the Virginia Port Authority unanimously approved a $61.5 million construction bid for a project that would increase on-dock rail capacity to 1.1 million containers a year.

J.B. Hunt announced it has launched a new transload service in the New York metro area to address network congestion.

Ship arrival data confirms seasonal surge to Southern California has ebbed — even as port congestion has risen.

Air and ocean asset-light logistics provider STG has acquired International Warehouse Services.

CalTrans is boosting the weight limit for port truckers. The regulatory change was made with good intentions, but can it work?

Zim’s profits are still going up — way up — despite more vessels getting snared in West Coast port gridlock.

Los Angeles and Long Beach hold off on charging highly controversial fee on import containers.

Air transport is usually the mode of last resort because it is expensive. The pandemic has turned that thinking upside down.

Rates expected to remain strong into 2022, fallout from new ship deliveries in 2023-2024 to be muted.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Georgia port officials are pulling every lever possible to reduce shipping delays that are having a national impact.

SC Ports and the Virginia Port Authority are benefiting from customers seeking less congested ports, they said.

President Biden was Professor Biden at the Port of Baltimore, explaining Supply Chain 101 to the American people.

Just five days before emergency SoCal container fee is set to begin, offshore traffic jam reaches new heights.

A small number of non-U.S. entities determine vessel and container levels for U.S. ocean supply chains.

Third-party logistics provider Radiant Logistics again posted record quarterly results on Tuesday. On a call with analysts and investors, company officials called out strength in virtually every segment Radiant serves.

The Biden administration is racing to cut red tape so the government can expedite port and freight transportation infrastructure investments.

Port congestion forced container ships to go faster. Congestion remains extreme, yet ships are slowing down.

Private marine terminals in Tacoma are putting more pressure on importers to pick up containers that are left for weeks and choking the movement of cargo.

Port America, Ceres and SSA Atlantic have formed joint venture Gateway Terminals at the Port of Savannah as a way to consolidate terminal, truck gate and stevedoring services.

California congestion hits charter rates as ship operators waste millions waiting to get to terminals.

CEO Rodolphe Saadé says the CMA CGM Group is acquiring Fenix Marine Services to effectively manage its West Coast port operations.

Virtually every U.S.-listed shipping stock fell on a day that the S&P 500 hit a record high.

Shipping giant Maersk has transformed itself into a one-stop shop for logistics services and now is growing its airfreight capability.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are turning into makeshift warehouses. Officials hope new fines on lingering cargo will end the practice.

Maersk expands air business after earning more in a single quarter than in any prior full year.

TCA and Blume Global will present a free webinar on the current congestion at the ports and how digitization can help ease the backlog.

The Port of Los Angeles is hoping to scare the freight community into more efficient behavior with big fines for the slow retrieval of containers.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach haven’t informed federal regulators yet about their plans to hit ocean carriers with big fees for excessive storage of containers.

Inventory restocking and demand for domestic intermodal service will support Hub Group into next year, executives said.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are turning to heavy-handed tactics to address a container logjam that is gumming up supply chains.

Shippers, carriers and logistics companies aren’t getting many answers yet about hefty surcharges for lingering containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Trans-Pacific container shipping rates remain exceptionally strong despite a dip earlier this month.

California and federal officials are partnering to speed up future freight infrastructure investments, as well as reduce delays impacting cargo flows today.