Felixstowe train derailment
At 22:09 on Wednesday 19th June a GB railway locomotive and loaded wagons en-route to the Port of Felixstowe derailed on the branch line approaching the main Central and Northern railheads, causing significant damage to the track and closing both terminals to train movements.
The Central and N...
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New US demurrage and detention regulations in force
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) final rule on demurrage and detention billing requirements came into force on the 28th May, except for two provisions that are delayed.
The rule applies to ocean common carriers trading to or from the US, including vessel-operating common carriers (VOCCs) ...
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India exporters face more challenges
Shipping lines are imposing surcharges and raising freight rates as capacity from India to Europe, North America and The Rest of The World tightens. Indicative of why this is, can be seen with exports to the US up 13% and significant ocean network changes expected on the India-North America trade...
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New Silk Road will link the Gulf to Europe
Turkey, Qatar, and the UAE are joining with Iraq to develop a new land corridor - Development Road Project - which will connect the Gulf to Europe.
The Development Road Project is a multi-billion dollar land corridor that will stretch 750 miles from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, e...
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Asia market update; June
The Asia export trades are now as challenging as it was during the pandemic, with extremely tight vessel space, equipment shortages and port congestion colliding leading to a surge in spot rates, with analysts speculating it could reach USD 20,000/FEU on the Asia-Europe trade before too long.
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Port congestion cannot be ignored
Significant and sustained terminal congestion in major Mediterranean and Asian ports is soaking up available capacity, which directly impacts freight rates and results in substantial delays to vessel schedules, with reliability dropping and the likelihood that delays will persist through the summ...
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Sea freight rates from Asia continue to spike and remain on an upward trajectory
Between the start of April and last week, average spot rates from the Far East into North Europe increased by 31%, the US West Coast 30%, Mediterranean 25% and US East Coast 22%, with spot rates to Europe currently $6,000-$7,500 and analysts suggesting they may hit $10,000.
Market demand reach...
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Global port congestion threat to capacity
The Red Sea crisis and the much longer sailing distances triggered by the diversion around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope (COGH) soaked up existing market overcapacity, which was just enough to cope with the extended COGH transit times, provided there were no additional disruptions to maritime supp...
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Summer 2024; France supply chain alert
This summer, a number of large-scale sporting events are likely to create some supply chain disruption, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris between the 26th of July to the 11th of August, and the 28th of August to the 8th of September.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, whic...
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Ex-Asia spot rate spiral turned into shooting star
Container shipping lines have announced significant rate hikes on all ex-Asia trade lanes, due to increased demand and increasing equipment challenges in more origins and it would be prudent to expect more of the same.
Effective capacity to North Europe has decreased by 5% compared to a year a...
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US importers face multiple challenges
The rapid escalation of transpacific ocean freight spot rates is reminiscent of the spike experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the air freight surge from Asia to the United States, that began late last year, looks likely to continue through the traditionally quiet summer months and int...
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Red Sea diversions create Western Mediterranean port congestion
The mass diversion of container ships away from the Red Sea since December has raised fears of congestion across west Mediterranean container ports, as carriers from Asia drop boxes destined for the eastern Mediterranean.
Instead of entering the Mediterranean Sea dead end, created by the effec...
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