By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – A very strong fourth-quarter 2020 operational update from OOCL is an indicator of the rich vein of profitability enjoyed by the liner industry since the middle...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – As oil prices head north again, ocean carriers are preparing to ramp up low-sulphur fuel surcharges to add to the misery of shippers struggling with sky-high...

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – Surveyors contracted to inspect the damaged cargo and containers on the ONE Apus say discharging operations are likely take several more weeks. And a decision on whether...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Major forwarders are engaged in fierce bidding wars in China, in order to secure equipment and space to North Europe. And several carriers are reported to...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) As Asia-Europe container spot rates continue to skyrocket, shippers and freight forwarders are accusing carriers of breaching short- and long-term contracts to “charge whatever they want”. In...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – The final Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) for 2020, published on 31 December, recorded a staggering 190% gain on the year. The biggest spot rate increase...

By Alex Lennane (The Loadstar) – The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has tightened the screws on the three major ocean carrier alliances, demanding carrier-specific trade data is filed monthly rather than...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Container freight rates from Asia to Europe are going through the roof, mirroring the trend on the transpacific, with regulators seemingly unable to stop...

by Mike Wackett (TheLoadstar) Container shipments from Asia to the UK continue to be subject to “unprecedented” delays and significant additional costs. “It’s as bad as you hear, possibly worse,”...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – With freight rates soaring, ocean carriers are prepared to pay more than double previous daily hire rates for chartered ships to secure tonnage and...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – With shippers facing skyrocketing container freight rates and premium fees across main and secondary trades, ocean carriers are now pummelling their customers with a...

By Gavin van Marle (TheLoadstar) As CMA CGM’s IT engineers continue, for the fifth day, to try to restore its systems following a cyber-attack at the weekend, the French carrier...

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – The 2M is the latest container shipping alliance to return more capacity to the transpacific trades. 2M partners Maersk and MSC said today...

By Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar) – US ocean regulator the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has fired a warning shot across the bows of container shipping lines, saying it will...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) Ocean carriers are scrambling to charter larger containerships to take advantage of skyrocketing freight rates caused by a spike in demand across major tradelanes. Handy...

By Sam Whelan (TheLoadstar) Container shipping costs and service levels are at risk of spiralling out of control, according to Drewry. As well as a massive withdrawal of capacity since...

By Mike Wackett (TheLoadstar) Despite the pandemic, the San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw strong container imports in July, with the better-than-expected volumes set to...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Blanked sailings and network changes resulted in a mixed bag of throughput results at North Europe’s top two container hubs, Rotterdam and Antwerp, in...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Due to continued increased demand, THE Alliance is extending its Asia – North Europe ‘extra loader’ programme with an additional five weekly sailings through...

By Mike Wackett (The Loadstar) – Although now nearly a quarter of the world’s containership fleet by capacity is fitted with exhaust gas cleaning scrubber technology, new retrofit orders for...