Trendwatch: 1 million boxes set new Los Angeles port record; South Korean Containership Completes Demonstration Arctic Voyage; Delta Air Lines reports another strong increase in cargo revenues

1 million boxes set new Los Angeles port record

The Port of Los Angeles handled a record 1,042,652 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, marking the busiest month in its 118-year history as rising imports helped cap unprecedented quarterly and four-month cargo totals.

Throughput exceeded the previous monthly record, set in July 2025, by more than 20,000 TEUs. The port handled nearly 3 million TEUs from July through September, its busiest quarter, and nearly 4 million TEUs from June through September, its strongest four-month stretch.

South Korean Containership Completes Demonstration Arctic Voyage

South Korea’s containership Panstar Acro arrived back in Busan on Sunday, October 11, completing a 50-day round trip through the Arctic to Europe and back along Russia’s Northern Sea Route. While the voyage was not a commercial success, it is being hailed by Korean officials as an achievement that is a “springboard” for the development of their planned service.

Delta Air Lines reports another strong increase in cargo revenues

Delta Air Lines has seen its cargo revenues improve by double-digit percentage levels in the third quarter of the year.

The Atlanta-headquartered airline registered a 29% year-on-year increase in third-quarter cargo revenues to $301m.

The company said the revenue increase was fuelled roughly equally by volume and yield, suggesting an increase of around 15% for each.

Frankfurt Airport cargo volumes rise 2.5% in September

Frankfurt Airport handled 174,773 metric tonnes of cargo, comprising airfreight and airmail, in September 2026, an increase of 2.5% year-on-year, according to traffic figures released by airport operator Fraport.

The September growth follows a 2.9% year-on-year increase in cargo volumes in August, when the airport handled 179,400 metric tonnes of airfreight and airmail.

OOCL revenue up 45.1% on trans-Pacific surge

Orient Overseas Container Line reported a 45.1% year-over-year increase in third-quarter liner revenue to $3.28 billion, as higher revenue per container and increased cargo volumes drove gains across all four of its reported trade regions.

OOCL handled 2.12 million twenty-foot equivalent units in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 9% from a year earlier, according to an Oct. 9 operational update from parent Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., itself majority-owned by China’s Cosco Shipping Holdings. Average liner revenue per TEU increased 33.1%.

Lufthansa Cargo strengthens global network and meets Asia Pacific demand

Lufthansa Cargo will offer its customers up to 46 weekly freighter rotations to 17 destinations in the Asia Pacific region as part of its winter flight schedule that is due to begin on 25 October.

One addition is the inclusion of Singapore in the existing rotation from Frankfurt, Germany to Taipei, Taiwan. The new intra-Asia route provides customers with additional network options and main deck capacity within Asia, said Lufthansa Cargo.

Container shipping schedule reliability hits new low

Container ships experienced average delays of six days in Q3, an increase of 2.4 days since the start of Q2, according to the latest reliability data from Xeneta as disruption at Asian ports snowballs into more delays and congestion.

September on-time arrivals fell 2% compared to August to just 27% with the freight intelligence platform, Xeneta, forecasting worse to come in October as the resonance of typhoons from July onwards continues to impact Asian export trades.

Ship recycling drought leaves record ageing fleet afloat

Ship recycling has sunk into its longest sustained slump in more than half a century, just as the global merchant fleet accumulates an unprecedented amount of ageing tonnage.

Clarksons Research calculates that just 273 ships of 5.5m gt, equivalent to around 8m dwt, were sold for demolition in the first nine months of 2026, 13% below last year’s already dismal pace and 60% beneath the average across the 2000s and 2010s.

Britain urges ships to prepare for life without reliable GPS

Britain has warned shipowners that satellite navigation can no longer be taken for granted in some of the world’s busiest shipping regions, urging crews to practise navigating without GPS as jamming and spoofing become increasingly widespread.

In a new Marine Guidance Note, MGN 719, the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) warns that interference across the Baltic, Black Sea, Middle East Gulf and parts of East Asia means satellite-derived positioning, navigation and timing information can no longer be relied upon everywhere.