ocean container shipping

Ocean carrier ZIM just released record results and confirmed huge gains for contract rates. So why did its stock sink?

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.

Fireworks could be stuck at sea by the time the Fourth of July rolls around. Blame massive port congestion and overloaded freight networks. The fireworks industry is asking the Biden administration to provide a fix, but what can it do?

Deutsche Bank’s Amit Mehrotra on how long import surge could last and upside potential for container, dry bulk and tanker stocks.

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.

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.

If ocean freight rates have legs, analysts see much more room for the secondhand ship values to run — which should, in turn, boost stocks.

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.

BIMCO’s Peter Sand discusses whether container shipping’s ‘new normal’ has legs and what’s next for the sector.

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.

Here’s a helicopter view courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard of container-ship armada off Los Angeles and Long Beach (WITH VIDEO).

Maersk, the world’s largest container carrier, just reported record quarterly results. And its next quarter looks even better.

California calls on feds to protect exporters. Shipping groups claim California export cure will worsen congestion — including for importers.

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.

Asia-U.S. liner sailings are now being canceled because too many container ships are stuck at anchor off California.

In Africa, one seafarer is dead and 15 have been kidnapped. Worldwide, more seafarers are being barred from travel as COVID fears rise.

Nearly 700 dockworkers in California have COVID. Hundreds more are out due to quarantines. Pleas for fast-track vaccinations intensify.

Ocean carrier ZIM has hiked its fleet capacity with new charters and is planning to price its New York IPO next week.

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.

There are more container ships stuck off California than at any time since 2004. What’s behind the pileup? When can it be cleared?

Even after a wave of just-ordered container ships is delivered by yards, cargo shippers are unlikely to see lower freight rates.

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.

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.

Container imports far exceed sales, raising concerns that 2020’s transport binge could lead to a big headache in 2021.

Container flows into U.S. ports have grown faster over the past three months than they have at any other time in the past decade.

Vaccine distribution won’t delay deliveries of your Honey Baked Ham and toilet paper, says CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco.

Ocean carriers toed the line on capacity control in 2020. What does this new normal mean to shippers, yards and leasing companies?

The trans-Pacific surge will persist through Q1 and January could see all-time-high container volumes, predicts Flexport’s Nerijus Poskus.

“This is one of the most difficult seasons we’ve been facing trying to move our cargo out of the United States,” says a California almond producer.

Trans-Pacific spot index rates haven’t budged from the same peak band for the past 10 weeks. How is this possible in a competitive free market?

Container shipping stocks are back to pre-COVID levels whereas many tanker and bulker stocks are down by double-digits year-to-date.

There will be no letup in booming container imports in 2020. The only question now is how long it lasts into 2021.

The pandemic is driving people to drink more. Bulk ocean shipments of wine in flexitanks are up 30% this year.

Panama Canal congestion is not impeding transits of container ships but it is pumping up spot rates for LNG and LPG carriers.

The total market capitalization of U.S.-listed ocean shipping stocks has plunged 34% in 2020, but there are reasons for hope in 2021.

Bulk soybean and corn exports are way up, but containerized ag exports are waylaid by equipment shortfalls and Chinese inspections.

As COVID hospitalizations surge and business restrictions mount, could U.S. importers be overshooting the mark?

Maersk confirms that cargo demand looks strong through year-end, bucking the usual seasonal trend.

Hapag-Lloyd sees strength until “at least Chinese New Year” and a challenge to “get containers where they need to be.”

There are not enough containers in China to handle all the U.S.-bound cargo — and box factories are now sold out into Q2.

Freight forwarder guides customers through online shopping shift and transport capacity choke points.

The one-two punch of the Pfizer vaccine and Joe Biden’s victory will affect container and tanker shipping in multiple ways.

U.S.-listed carrier reveals the latest on trans-Pacific holiday rush, restocking, e-commerce spike and port congestion.

The trans-Pacific market is bursting at the seams as shippers rush in holiday cargoes.

A half-dozen basic physical characteristics of ocean containers should be considered before shippers or their packers stuff them.

What happens next at the IMO will affect oceangoing ship capacity — and freight rates — for decades to come.

More recovery signals: container lease pricing up over 50% versus second quarter, new container prices up 40% year-to-date.

On a collision course: holiday timing, surging consumer demand, thin inventories, and capacity constraints for container liners and ports.

Cargo mix and larger locks kept Panama Canal volumes rising despite headwinds.

A “blue sweep” win for Democrats could be good for container ships, bad for tankers.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission will consider a change in its regulations that would allow filing of service contracts up to 30 days from the agreement’s effective date.

Listed carriers are poised to post stellar third-quarter numbers on higher rates and volumes.

‘Get ready for the biggest restocking cycle on record,’ says Jefferies.

U.S. Federal Maritime Commission anticipates COVID-19 impact on U.S. supply chain to continue into the first half of 2021.

As NYSHEX expands and Maersk Spot nears U.S. approval, ocean transport contracts could become more binding.

Marine fuel prices are down 30% year-on-year despite the IMO 2020 regulation.

Analysts point to upside prospects for container-ship stocks as charter rates rebound.

China could decide enough is enough if trans-Pacific rates rise too high.

FreightWaves CEO and Director of Freight

New Panjiva survey reveals extent of coronavirus fallout on global supply chains.

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America said its members are tired of ocean carriers charging them hundreds of dollars over their service contract rates.

COVID-19 may have disrupted supply chains but not the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission’s regulatory and policy focus on ocean container shipping, FMC chairman says.

As prosecutors rack up guilty pleas in 2019 case, more coke crosses via ship from South America to Europe in 2020.

New ocean container floor design developed and tested by the Institute of International Container Lessors over the past 10 years reduces wood use by up to 45%.

U.S. importers now paying three times more per mile than Europeans for transport of Chinese goods.

CMA CGM bonds that traded at 55 cents on the dollar in March are now trading near par.

McKinsey warns that global shocks will become more frequent and shippers must improve the resiliency of their supply chains.

Layoffs loom. Maersk maintains changes are not about cutting costs amid COVID, but about improving service.

Direct ChassisLink has added 1,000 new chassis to the Gulf Coast region since its departure from the OCEMA Gulf Consolidated Chassis Pool earlier this year.

U.S. importers turn to Chinese sellers in the wake of COVID.

Good news: Ocean volumes are recovering from COVID.

New normal for container shipping: active capacity management and digital spot bookings.

COVID-19 could ignite geopolitical clashes and cause “meltdown” in U.S. consumer demand.

Asia-U.S. ocean freight rates are hitting record highs as import demand outpaces vessel supply.

Containers are used to carry imports to the U.S., but they also carry exports from the U.S. The agriculture industry depends on them, but COVID-19 has caused the system to fray…

Ports on the Atlantic are losing imports from Europe as well as Asia.

New data reveals just how far ship orders have sunk. The fewer ships ordered, the higher future rates could climb.

Darren Prokop’s commentary concerns whether price gouging is taking place on container shipping between Asian ports and the U.S.

A new interview with AgTC’s Peter Friedmann on how China COVID fears affect U.S. food exports.

U.S. shippers importing cargo from Asia are getting some price relief.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission enters “phase two” of its fact-finding investigation into COVID-19 impacts on container shipping in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Lori Ann LaRocco illustrates the disruption to global trade by profiling what has happened at the Port of Miami since the coronavirus pandemic began.

“Optics” are bad but freight pricing doesn’t appear to meet regulatory bar for intervention.

Shipboard COVID cases will make it even harder to roll back travel restrictions that block crew changes.

E-commerce and coronavirus fallout are buoying container services from Asia to the West Coast.

For years, exporters and importers have been frustrated by the former U.S. Customs and Border Protection process to withhold their names and addresses in manifest data from the public.

By artificially restricting capacity, carrier alliances have engineered rates higher and may book a profit this year.

New court documents shed light on a shipboard drug ring.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has rolled out guidance on how the ocean shipping industry can collaboratively improve the flow of containers among ocean carriers, marine terminals, shippers and drayage truckers in San Pedro Bay during COVID-19 and beyond.

New data reveals third-quarter ocean schedules still largely intact — a positive sign on cargo bookings.

Ships could be idled as thousands of seafarers refuse contract extensions.

Global trade could be the next casualty if the virus resurges, warns OECD.