Despite a collapse in freight rates, container shipping is not behaving like an industry facing an imminent crisis.
New Alphaliner data highlights the enormity of new container shipping capacity that’s poised for delivery.
The 2M partnership between MSC and Maersk — which is breaking up — is the smallest of the three alliances. The Ocean Alliance is much larger.
The top 10 liner operators hiked aggregate capacity by 13% in 2000-22 and continue to control 85% of the global fleet.
Spot freight rates are easing, but in a sign of resilience, container-ship charter rates remain near all-time highs.
A flood of newly built container ships will be delivered by shipyards in 2023-25. Can liners maintain pricing power?
The trans-Pacific container trade is vastly different than pre-pandemic, with more ships, more competition, and a new leader: Maersk.
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.
Demand for container ships is so extreme that some operators are paying unprecedented sums to rent them.
Spot pricing has surged even higher, propelled by carrier rate hikes and China congestion fallout.
Decision to secure dedicated vessel highlights unprecedented strength of container shipping and risks faced by importers.
Consolidation in the liner sector is already extreme. Newbuild orders will further concentrate market power in fewer hands.
Liners are paying historically high rates to charter ships and maximize their exposure to the booming freight market.
Newbuild-to-fleet ratio now 15.3%, up from 9.4% in mid-2020. But orders are not high enough yet to wave red flags.
Even after a wave of just-ordered container ships is delivered by yards, cargo shippers are unlikely to see lower freight rates.
Ocean carriers toed the line on capacity control in 2020. What does this new normal mean to shippers, yards and leasing companies?
Ocean carriers not looking at additional trans-Pacific services as Phase One deal unlikely to stem trade slowdown.
A trade war truce is not stopping multinationals from exploring alternative sourcing options to China, but moving supply chains is difficult, says expert.
New independent research reveals that lines are failing to adequately explain how IMO 2020 fuel bill surcharges are calculated.
Shipyards are facing a scrubber stampede as container lines seek to sidestep paying for low-sulfur IMO 2020 bunkers beginning on Jan. 1.
Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO will be the main market share “losers”, says Alphaliner.
French calls for mandatory slow steaming continue, but the introduction of low-sulfur bunkers could see container lines accelerate services as fuel markets are played for competitive advantage.
An influx of new container ships has hiked the average size of vessels deployed on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trades, reports Alphaliner.
The start of the box shipping slack season commences next week when Chinese factories close for the Golden Week holiday. Further spot rate losses are predicted by Alphaliner.
