Zhonggu Shipping and Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC) have teamed up to launch a new Qinzhou-Haiphong-Kolkata service. The service was launched on 18 February 2025 with the 529 teu XIN HAI XIU at Haiphong. The service will operate on an irregular 2-3 week frequency.
CMA CGM will join Asyad Line and Folk Maritime on the India-Red Sea Service (IRS), with the French carrier branding the service as the India Red Sea Express/India Gulf Express 3 (BIGEX3). CMA CGM will join the IRS/BIGEX3 service that calls at Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, Jeddah, Nhava Sheva from 22 February 2025, adding a 3rd ship to the service as the sailing frequency is upgraded from 10 days to 7 days. The 3 partners will operate 1 ship each with CMA CGM's 2,524 teu ZHE CHENG XIN ZHOU joini
EC contracts continued to rally as traders anticipate a recovery in freight rates over the next two months, despite the liners' target of $4,000 per FEU by March 1 not being fully achievable. Half-day trading volume has already reached 86,000 lots, with open interest increasing by 7,000 lots. Weekly capacity departing from Singapore and Malaysia will hit a trough this week due to blank sailings. Utilization for the few vessels that recently departed Singapore and Malaysia has begun to drop, refl
The charter market remains very active with rates still holding very firm on very strong demand across all size segments. Last week saw notable gains in the Bangkokmax segment where demand has picked up especially for intra-Asia deployment. In the past week, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd dominated the fixtures list as they continue to fill the open vessel slots in their new Gemini network. Maersk’s recent capacity additions have seen it breach its own self-imposed fleet cap of 4.3m teu that it has mai
SCFI spot rates to Europe continue to weaken in the week ended 14 February with no pick up in cargo volumes after the Lunar New Year holiday in the Far East. SCFI spot rates fell by 10.9% with actual spot rates slipping to $2,400-$3,000/feu to North Europe although carriers are aiming to raise rates above $4,000/feu again on 1 March as bookings are resuming after the holidays. Port congestion in Europe could disrupt the schedules of the ships returning to Asia in the next 2 months, which could
The underlying SCFIS index slumped by 19% on 17 February, reversing last week’s unexpected gains. The forward curve has returned to contango for the first time since November 2024, as EC freight futures strengthened over the past week with rates expected to rebound over the March to September period. Trading activity was mainly focused on the principal EC freight futures contract for April 2025 (EC2504) which rose 10% as both MSC and Maersk joined other carriers in raising their quotations for
Congestion in North Europe ports have come under the spotlight with a national strike in Belgium on 13 February adding to the labour dispute at ECT Rotterdam that remains unresolved while protests against pension reform in France have worsened the delays at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Le Havre respectively with vessels facing berthing delays of up to 5 days. UK ports continue to battle congestion with Felixstore also facing delays of up to 5 days while London Gateway and Southampton have seen delays
Register Free Trial Despite the geopolitical headwinds and rapidly falling freight rates, the container markets is getting some relief from the continued vessel diversions from the Red Sea and worsening port congestion that continues to build up in Europe. The European routes are expected to see a rate rebound in March, with freight futures back in contango as forward rates in the next 6 months are expected to rise above their current levels. But the momentum is weakening on the US routes as c
SeaLead will launch a new Mediterranean-USA (MEDUS) service connecting Ambarli, Gebze, Aliaga, Casablanca, New York, Norfolk, Mersin from 29 March 2025. The MEDUS service will turn in 6 weeks and will operate initially on a fortnightly basis using 3 ships of 1,400 to 1,800 teu starting with the 1,440 teu CAPE FULMAR at Mersin on 29 March followed by the 1,809 teu ADRASTOS two weeks later with a 3rd ship that is to be named.
Marsa Ocean Shipping has become the latest carrier to join the Asia-Med trade with the introduction of the 2,466 teu MARSA NEPTUNE to Far East-Mediterranean FEM1 service that is jointly operated by CStar Line, Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) and Uniglobal Shipping (UGL). The Marsa ship will join the FEM1 on 24 February 2025 at Qingdao, with the service to be upgraded to a weekly frequency from its previous irregular sailings. The FEM1 calls at Qingdao, Shanghai, Nansha, Jeddah, Ambarli, Evyap, Jed