Schedules still in turmoil as Covid issues drive port congestion, but there is light
Congestion at North European and Asian box terminals continues to disrupt global liner schedules, with quarantines and the side-effects of Covid vaccination blamed for further instability in the supply chain.
Labour shortages at the Benelux ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam have been attributed to the after-effects of vaccination.
Source: The Loadstar
Egypt agrees to release Ever Given from Suez Canal
The long-running dispute about the release of Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) has been resolved and the vessel will resume its voyage this week, more than three months after the incident that blocked the Suez Canal.
“Following the agreement in principle between the parties, and after further meetings with the Suez Canal Authority’s negotiating committee and numerous court hearings, good progress has been made and a formal solution has now been agreed,” the UK P&I Club, the vessel’s insurer, said in a statement.
Source: Lloyd´s Loading List
Air freight rates: 'a small imbalance of supply and demand can have a large impact'
Shippers planning to use air freight should take the time to study load factors (LF), which reveal a tipping point for rate changes.
Research from Clive Data Services, which uniquely calculates dynamic load factors based on volume and weight, shows that when aircraft utilisation rises to around 80%, rates jump, while they drop a similar amount when load factors fall below that.
Source: The Loadstar
Drewry forecasts $80 billion profit in 2021 for container lines
According to UK-based Drewry maritime consultancy, global container carriers are on track for an annual 2021 profit of $80 billion, and this could even stretch to $100 billion should rates continue their meteoric rise through the second half of this year.
This represents a substantial upgrade to its $35 billion forecast of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) made in March. Drewry said spot and contract rates through the second quarter reached record highs, with worsening supply chain disruption continuing to fuel price increases.
Source: Maritime Magazine
Indian ports need to release boxes to clear congestion
A continuing crunch in the container industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic aggravated by the Suez Canal crisis and the Yantian Port congestion in South China has led to heavy congestion at Indian ports.
The Federation of India’s Export Organisation (FIEO) has highlighted there is an immediate need of releasing close to 50,000 containers held up at different Indian ports.
Source: Container News
Schedule reliability in ocean shipping remained low in May
Schedule reliability in ocean shipping, which has been largely consistent these past few months, albeit at a much lower level than the industry stakeholders would have preferred, declined by 0.2 percentage points in May on the previous month to 38.8%,new analysis by Sea-Intelligence has revealed.
Its latest Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, which spans 34 different trades lanes and includes 60+ carriers, showed that on a year over year (Y/Y) level, schedule reliability was down a “massive” 36.0 percentage points.
Source: Lloyd´s Loading List
LNG-powered CMA CGM mega vessel completes milestone call at Rotterdam
The 23,000TEU CMA CGM Concorde arrived at Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) for its maiden call in the Port of Rotterdam on 1 July and two days later the major container terminal reached an important milestone.
On 3 July, RWG handled the 5 millionth deep-sea container since its official opening in September 2015. Box No. 5 million was offloaded from the CMA CGM Concorde, which is one of a series of nine LNG-powered Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) owned by the French shipping group.
Source: Container News
Port of Baltimore secures new Southeast Asia service
Maersk Line has launched a new service Southeast Asia/Vietnam and China service that will call at the Helen Delich Bently Port of Baltimore.
Beginning in July, with the first ships reaching the Port of Baltimore in August, the Transpacific/Panama Canal service will include a string of up to 13 ships with carrying capacity of 4,500 plus teu.
William P. Doyle, Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) director, said: “The new Maersk service will help commerce move through Maryland across the country and around the globe.
Source: Container Management
