Europe has become the new congestion hotspot, with severe delays across several key ports in North Europe and the Med area. Labour issues have spread to Germany with Hamburg the latest port to be affected, after strikes have already affected port operations in Rotterdam, Le Havre and Spain. Vessel berthing lineups are full at all main ports until the end of March, with no improvements to the congestion situation in the next few weeks. Congestion in North Asia have eased at Chinese ports after t
Container freight futures continued to see-saw, as the large drop on 4 March after last week’s 6.2% decline in the SCFIS index was followed by a rebound on 6 March as Maersk’s General Rate Increase (GRI) notice sparked a minor rally. Over the past week, the EC contracts were generally down apart from the April 2025 and February 2026 contracts that traded flat. Average daily trading volumes remained robust, while open interest dropped slightly by 3%. The forward curve remains optimistic, with Ju
The SCFI rebound on the North Europe route proved to be short-lived as carriers continued to slash rates. The SCFIS is also expected to resume its slide after the surprise 6% gain on 10 March, mirroring the weakness in the spot market where average survey rate quotations are still falling. Capacity utilization remains stubbornly poor, with no pick up in demand to be seen. Capacity discipline remains scarce, with the OCEAN Alliance still planning to proceed with the launch of their new NEU3 serv
MSC will leapfrog its rivals to become the largest global container port operator with the addition of Hutchison Port’s portfolio of terminals outside of China comprising of 39 terminals in 21 countries with consolidated container handling volumes of 51m TEU in 2024. MSC’s terminal operating arm, TIL, together with consortium partners BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partners announced on 4 March 2025 an agreement to acquire 80% of Hutchison’s port interests at a total enterprise value of $2
Register Free Trial MSC’s ascension to the top of the container terminal operators table was as remarkable as its rise to the top containership operator rank and leaves little room for its rivals to catch up. The bold move by MSC and its consortium partners to acquire Hutchison Ports’ terminal assets ex China will widen MSC’s global footprint, with access to new hubs in Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Port Klang, Laem Chabang, Lazaro Cardenas, Balboa and Cristobal that will complement MSC’s existing ter
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will launch 2 new feeder services to provide connections between the Colombian hub of Cartagena with US Gulf coast ports from March 2025. These services are operated by Maersk as part of the Gemini Cooperation network to the US Gulf:- * The America Shuttle 1 (AM1) / Florida Shuttle (FLS) service will connect Cartagena, Miami, Jacksonville, Cartagena from 17 March 2025. The service will turn in 14 days using the 2,544 teu ERATO and 2,532 teu MAERSK NESTON * The IAM Ameri
Dong Young and Pancon Line will launch a new Incheon-Qingdao-Haiphong (IQH) service calling at Incheon, Qingdao, Haiphong, Shekou, Xiamen, Incheon from 26 March 2025. The IQH service will turn in 14 days using the 1,009 teu PEGASUS TERA and PANCON GLORY.
SeaLead will launch a new Mombasa-Dar es Salaam (MDS) service using the 1,118 teu DEVON at Mombasa on 17 March 2025.
CNC, the intra-Asia arm of CMA CGM, has added a new Singapore Philippines 8 (SP8) connecting Singapore, Davao, General Santos, Singapore from 2 March 2025. The SP8 will turn in 14 days using 2 geared containerships - the 1,114 teu CONTSHIP WAY and 1,118 teu VIMC DIAMOND. The service is aimed at the transport of reefer products from Mindanao including bananas, pineapples and other perishable products.
COSCO and X-Press Feeders have added a second Chancay feeder to connect Chancay, Callao, Iquique, Arica, Ilo, Chancay from 8 March 2025. The service is an extension of X-Press Feeders' Chile Peru X-Press (CPX) that called at Callao, Iquique, Callao with the addition of the new Chancay, Arica and Ilo calls from 17 December 2024 using the 1,341 teu ALIOTH. The service was operated on a fortnightly basis before the addition of a second ship, the 1,098 teu CONTSHIP DON from COSCO on 8 March 2025 wi