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TS Lines have withdrawn its South China-Los Angeles AWC2 service from the end of March with the 4 ships of 1,780 teu ships redeployed after completing their last voyages.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.
Following a strong start in the first 2 months of the year, container cargo demand has fallen back in March with the volume rebound after the Chinese New Year failing to materialise. Current projections suggest full year container volumes will drop by 1.1% in 2025, as the muted cargo demand is expected to last through the summer peak season. The demand outlook for the rest of this year remains uncertain, with the threat of additional US tariffs that will be unveiled on 2 April expected to furth
The US tariffs announced on 2 April will have a larger impact on container markets, relative to other shipping segments, due to the heavier import duties on China and Vietnam which together account for 51% of total US container imports in 2024. The trade-weighted tariff rate is more than 36% based on Linerlytica’s calculations derived from each country’s share of total US container imports. The high import duties on other Southeast Asia and South Asia countries leaves little room to substitute c
Container freight futures tumbled on 7 April as concerns over a potential global recession following Trump’s tariff announcement. Apart from the short dated EC2504, all the other EC contracts have declined by 10-15% since the tariffs were announced on 2 April. However, the sell-off was less dramatic than the 20% correction in liner equities over the same period. Trading volume surged to 120,000 lots on 7 April on heavy trading but open interests dropped by just 3% today, as the futures largely a
The 1st April Asia-Europe rate hike flopped, with carriers failing to push through their announced rate increases with cargo demand showing no signs of strength. The SCFIS registered its 4th consecutive weekly decline with carriers more willing to slash rates than to cut capacity despite the deteriorating market conditions. Carriers are hoping that worsening port congestion at both Chinese and European & Mediterranean main ports could provide support for another attempt to hike rates, while car