CMA CGM has launched a new Baltic Express (BLX) / Baltic Shuttle (PLX) service that connects Gdansk, Kotka, Riga, Gdansk from 20 January 2025. The BLX/PLX service will turn in 7 days with a weekly frequncy using the 907 teu JSP MISTRAL.
The crew of the 1,930 teu ASL BAUHINIA has abandoned the containership in the Red Sea on 28 January 2025 after it caught fire following an explosion on board the vessel. The 2022 built ship is owned by Asean Seas Line and time chartered by Emirates Shipping Lines since October 2024. It is currently deployed on the Gulf Red Sea Connector (EGRC) service that connects Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Aqaba, Sokhna, Jebel Ali and had left Jebel Ali on 22 January and was scheduled to arrive at Jeddah on 29 Januar
Fixture activity has remained brisk with both extensions and new charters still fuelling the charter market rally with rates still strengthening apart from the 1,100 teu and smaller segments where there is sufficient availability to meet existing demand. For larger sizes, including the 1,700 teu segment, vessel availability remains extremely tight in the short term and charter rates will remain firm until this situation changes. With all of the main carriers still retaining the Cape routing in
Severe weather conditions and high pre-Lunar New Year cargo volumes have driven port congestion to a new 3 month high. A surge in the number of ships waiting at anchorages across Asia, Europe and North America has pushed the total capacity affected by port congestion globally to 3.3m teu or 10.5% of the fleet. Chinese ports are extremely congested in the run up to the holidays next week, with both the Yangtze River ports and Pearl River delta ports recording a significant surge in gate and bert
EC freight futures recovered most of their YTD losses last week in active trading with volumes rebounding by 23% while open interest shrunk by 17% as some traders closed their short positions ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. The International Energy Exchange (INE), where EC contracts are listed, will be closed from 28 January to 4 February. End February contracts (EC2502) remained largely unchanged and now trades at an 18% discount to latest spot rates after the SCFIS slipped by a furthe
Although freight futures rallied last week on a potential breakdown in the Middle East peace deal, it has not stopped spot rates from sliding further. Maersk has fired another fresh salvo with further rate cuts in for shipments to North Europe, dropping its online FAK quotation to $2,500 per FEU from $2,800 for shipments scheduled to depart after 10 February. Current spot rates to North Europe have dropped by $250/FEU in the past week to around $3,000/FEU. The relentless pressure in the spot ma
Carriers will retain their current Cape of Good Hope routing in February with no immediate return planned to the Red Sea despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement concluded on 19 January 2025. According to Linerlytica’s survey of vessels diverted to the Cape route, the total number of ships have risen in the last 10 days driven by the busy shipping window before the Chinese New Year. If the fragile ceasefire in Gaza fails to hold, the vessel diversions affecting some 350 ships for 4.5m TEU c
Register Free Trial The main container carriers have shown no urgency to return to the Red Sea as the fragile truce in Gaza continues to show cracks which spurred a minor rally in the freight futures to Europe in the past week despite continued downward pressure in spot freight rates. The SCFI has slipped by 17% since the start of the year with further drops expected in February as carriers are still caught in the downward rate spiral ahead of the new Alliance network launch in February. The w
Maersk will launch a new Safina service connecting Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Salalah, Duqm, Jebel Ali, Colombo, Singapore from 23 February 2025, replacing its existing Safina that it operates jointly with X-Press Feeders as the China Jebel Ali X-Press (CJX). The existing Safina/CJX calls at Shanghai, Ningbo and Shekou will be removed while new calls at Salalah and Duqm are added. The revised service will turn in 5 weeks using ships of 2,000-3,000 teu.
ONE, Evergreen and Yang Ming have launched a new jointly operated Aegean Express (AEX) / Europe Mediterranean Sea (EUM) / North Europe-Aegean Express (NEA) service connecting Southampton, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Piraeus, Ambarli, Gebze, Gemlik, Aliaga, Piraeus, Southampton from 14 January 2025. The Southampton call will replace London Gateway that will only be served on 2 trips on 14 January and 9 February. The service will turn in 4 weeks and will deploy 4 ships of 2,500 to 2,900 teu with ONE oper