Hede Shipping has launched a second transpacific service branded as the Hede US West Coast Direct Express (HDX) from 11 September 2024. The HDX service turns in 5 weeks and calls at Ningbo, Los Angeles, Ningbo using 5 ships of 1,800 to 2,700 teu starting with the 1,809 teu ADAMASTOS at Ningbo on 11 September. 4 more vessels will be phased in subsequently, including the 1,738 teu HANSA DUBURG and 2,741 teu POSEN and PONA. The HDX will complement the current HDS service which has been renamed as
Asyad Line and Folk Maritime have launched a new India-Red Sea Service (IRS) with each partner to contribute one ship each on the service from 10 September 2024. Asyad Line's 3,534 teu WADI DUKA will connect Sokhna, Jeddah, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Salalah, Sokhna on a 30-35 day rotation, while Folk Maritime's 1,868 teu FOLK JEDDAH will connect Jeddah, Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Jeddah on a 20-25 day rotation.
TS Lines has upgraded its recently launched Asia-US West Coast (AWC) service with a second AWC2 loop with up to 5 ships of 1,700 to 4,300 teu being deployed. The AWC2 will call nominally at Nansha, Xiamen, Los Angeles, Nansha with additional calls at Chiwan, Kaohsiung and Busan provided on an irregular basis. The service started from 13 August 2024 with the 1,787 teu TS BANGKOK, followed by the 1,787 teu TS TOKYO on 25 August. Two larger ships were added in September, the 2,954 teu TS MELBOURNE
Regional Container Lines (RCL) and TS Lines (TSL) will launch a new South China-Thailand service calling at Nansha, Shekou, Laem Chabang, Bangkok (PAT and Sahathai), Nansha from 22 October 2024. The service will be branded by RCL as the RCL Bangkok-South China (RBS) and will turn in 2 weeks using the 1,707 PIYA BHUM and a second ship from TSL with the service name still to be announced.
The FAX/IEA/EAX/REA/FAS service, currently operated by Emirates Shipping Line (ESL), Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), Interasia Lines (IAL), KMTC, Regional Container Lines (RCL) and TS Lines (TSL) will be upgraded from October 2024 with a second loop added with Evergreen joining the group as a vessel operator. The existing FAX/IEA/EAX/REA/FAS/AEF2 service calls at Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Port Klang, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Port Klang, Qingdao using 7 ships of 2,500-2,800 teu with 1 skip
ONE will introduce a new East Coast South America Express 3 (SX3) service from 14 October 2024 through slots on HMM's Far East-India-Latin America (FIL) service. The service turns in 12 weeks and deploys 12 ships of 4,700-8,500 teu from HMM that calls at Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Kattupalli, Santos, Paranagua, Rio Grande, Navegantes, Singapore, Hong Kong, Busan. ONE's slot arrangement will not include the Kattupali call.
Charter rates remain broadly flat in the past week, with supply in the larger segments above 4,000 teu still very tight while more open candidates are available in the 1,700-3,000 teu segments. Maersk has been particularly active in the last month, including forward fixtures extending into 1Q 2025 as it tries to secure ships to cover its tonnage requirements for next year when the new Gemini Cooperation is scheduled to start from February. Sinotrans has taken the first 3 units of 4 ships that i
Rates to North Europe dropped by over $1,000/feu in the past week as carriers continued to slash rates in their futile attempt to secure additional cargo ahead of the Golden Week holidays on 1 October. The rate restraint at the beginning of last week was short lived, with further rate cutting still to come. Departures from Shanghai will be erratic following the aftermath of typhoon Bebinca due to serious vessel bunching that would also cause serious disruptions to vessel schedules at downstrea
EC freight futures closed higher last week, with the INE taking an extended 4-day break for the mid-autumm festival from 14 to 17 September. Traders covered their short positions over the past week after Maersk temporarily set their floor rates at $4,400 per FEU but the restraint proved short lived with carriers resuming their aggressive price cutting while Maersk lowered its online quotation to $4,000 per FEU over the weekend, marking a further 10% decrease week over week. The market is expect
A coastwise strike at US East and Gulf Coast ports now looks certain to start on 1 October 2024. The 14 ports controlled by the ILA handled 28.4m teu of containerised cargo in 2023 or almost 550,000 teu each week. For each week that the strike continues, it would hold up 1.7% of the global containership fleet, with an indefinite strike expected to affect over 4.5m teu of the fleet, accounting for 15% of the total containership capacity. Global port congestion has eased over the past week but th