SITC has launched a new China Malaysia Indonesia 2 (CMI2) service connecting Nansha, Shekou, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Semarang, Balikpapan, Cebu, Nansha from 3 April 2025. The new service retakes the name of the former CMI2 that has been dormant since June 2024 and retains Malaysia in the service name even though Malaysian ports have been dropped from the rotation of all the former versions of the service since 2021. The revamped CMI2 turns in 21 days and deploys 3 ships of 900-1,000 teu star
The US-China standoff continues to keep container market sentiment poor with US tariff concessions far from sufficient to restore Transpacific volumes with cargo bookings in the next 3 weeks reported to be down by 30-60% in China and by 10-20% in the rest of Asia. The Labour Day holidays will further dampen cargo demand in May, and could force carriers to cancel additional sailings over the coming weeks in order to stop further freight rate erosion. Only 3 Transpacific services have been withdr
Asia-Europe rates received a much needed boost with gains on both the North Europe and Med routes as carriers pushed ahead with the mid-April rate increase of $200-300/teu that is holding for now on improved capacity utilization rates. With Chinese volumes shifting away from the US in the weeks ahead, carriers are eyeing increased demand to Europe as well as to the other markets to provide some relief from the turmoil in the US, with the overall SCFI edging up by 0.1% at the end of last week.
Container freight futures continued their retreat after last week’s US tariff turmoil. Apart from EC2504 which expires in 2 weeks, prices for longer dated contracts fell by 7% to 14% over the week, driven by short sellers in heavy trading with average daily volumes rising by 59% week on week. The SCFIS edged lower by 1.4% to 1,402 points on 14 April but could see some marginal gains in the next 2 weeks from the planned mid-April rate hikes with EC2504 trading at a 6% premium. Although EC2506 ra
Register Free Trial The US-China standoff continues to keep container market sentiment poor with US tariff concessions far from sufficient to restore Transpacific volumes with cargo bookings in the next 3 weeks reported to be down by 30-60% in China and by 10-20% in the rest of Asia. The Labour Day holidays will further dampen cargo demand in May, and could force carriers to cancel additional sailings over the coming weeks in order to stop further freight rate erosion. Only 3 Transpacific serv
TS Lines have withdrawn its South China-Los Angeles AWC2 service from the end of March with the 4 ships of 1,780 teu ships redeployed after completing their last voyages. The AWC2 calls at Xiamen, Nansha, Shekou, Yantian, Los Angeles, Xiamen and turns in 6 weeks using 4 ships of 1,700 teu with multiple blank sailings in each cycle since it was first launched in August 2024. The last sailing was made by the 1,787 teu TS TOKYO that departed from Yantian on 22 March 2025 with an adhoc Busan call o
CMA CGM will add a new Indian Ocean Feeder 2 (IOFEED2) service connecting Mombasa, Zanzibar, Mombasa from 30 April 2025. The IOFEED2 turns in 14 days using the geared 602 teu ONEGO BURAN on a fortnightly frequency.
CMA CGM has launched a new Pakistan Khalifa Express (PIKEX) service calling at Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Sohar, Karachi, Jebel Ali from 11 April 2025. The service turns in 10 days on a rolling schedule using the geared 2,564 teu CMA CGM ZANZIBAR.
Vasi Shipping has initiated bankruptcy proceedings on 10 April 2025 with outstanding debt of $19m owed to creditors. The company was established in Singapore in January 2012 and operated primarily in the Southeast Asia, Bay of Bengal, India subcontinent, Red Sea and Middle East Gulf routes. Vasi has ceased to operate any ships since early March 2025. It operated 3 owned ships previously - the 1,743 teu VASI SUN (built 1990, acquired in Nov 2015 and scrapped in Dec 2018), the 1,730 teu VASI STAR
HMM, ONE and Yang Ming have confirmed the suspension of the Premier Alliance PN4 service launch that was originally scheduled to commence in May 2025. The PN4 was supposed to call at Ningbo, Shanghai, Vancouver, Tacoma, Ningbo and the coverage of the affected ports will remain on the enhanced PN3 service that calls at Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Vancouver, Tacoma, Busan, Qingdao.