The Loadstar

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – According to shipbroker Braemar ACM, as at the beginning of this week six container vessels, equating to 14,000 teu, had

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – The seemingly never-ending quest by ocean carriers to operate bigger ships was a significant spur for orders for 60

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) — Christmas saw the 17,859 teu CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin become the largest container vessel ever to call at a US port

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” This seems to aptly sum up the two halves of 2015 for container lines, which began the year with

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) — Poland’s Port of Gdansk Authority is to tender for a new container and general cargo deepwater port able to

By Martin Roebuck (TheLoadstar) AstraZeneca has said it will be using ocean freight for 70% of its international shipments within the next 12-18 months. Julian

By Alessandro Pasetti (TheLoadstar) This month, Singapore container shipping line Neptune Orient Lines finally agreed to be acquired by France’s CMA CGM in a

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) — Cosco and China Shipping have released details of their forthcoming merger, which is likely to see the latter quit

By Mike Wackett,  (The Loadstar) On the assumption that CMA CGM’s acquisition of NOL receives the approval of anti-trust authorities next year,

By Mike Wackett (TheLoadStar) Since the launch of its vessel upgrade programme in 2011, with the conversion of 17 of its S Class 8,200 teu ships to 9,600

By San Whelan & Gavin van Marle (TheLoadstar) LONDON – The imminent enforcement of mandatory container weight verification is causing widespread

By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar There are “significant obstacles” to the sale of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), despite interest from Maersk

  By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar Maersk Line’s decision last week to lay-up one of its 18,000 teu flagships is “good news for the industry”, Drewry

By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar The withdrawal of services during the winter slack season will, in the next few weeks, propel laid-up cellular capacity past the

  By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar Drewry has almost halved its global growth forecast for container shipping this year, down to 2.2% from 4.3%, and its

  By Sam Whelan in Shenzhen, The Loadstar The waves of port congestion that regularly beset Asian container terminals can be overcome through an industry

  By Gavin van Marle, The Loadstar The Republic of the Marshall Islands’ (RMI) has launched a lacerating attack on the International Maritime

  By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar The era of global slow-steaming by container lines could be about to end with the recent announcement of improved transit

  By Gavin van Marle, The Loadstar The second panamax containership to undergo innovative “widening” conversion is set to return to the water next

  By Mike Wackett, The Loadstar Some 90,000 teu of cellular capacity was consigned to lay-up in the past two weeks, taking redundant tonnage to its