2M partners Maersk and MSC are swapping Felixstowe for Liverpool on their TA2/NEUATL2 transatlantic loop from the end of the year, in order to “provide stability to the service”.
The last sailing from Felixstowe will be by the 8,822 teu MSC Athens in week 51, with the first sailing from Liverpool by the 6,478 teu Maersk Sembawang planned for the following week.
Source: The Loadstar
While passenger airlines are struggling to survive, the air cargo market is poised to recover to pre-crisis levels in 2021 on the strength of a strong rebound in international trade and huge growth in e-commerce, according to the International Air Transport Association.
For the year, IATA projects air cargo demand to be 11.5% less than in 2019 versus a 66% drop in passenger volumes, but the year-over-year difference in cargo is narrowing each month. Cargo throughput, currently where it was four years ago, could reach 2019 parity in the first quarter of 2021, while passenger traffic is expected to still be 50% below last year, the air transport group said Monday in a monthly update.
Source: Freight Waves
Following the massive loss of 1,816 containers during a Pacific storm the stricken vessel ONE Apus has arrived in Kobe, Japan, for the discharge and assessment of the remaining cargo and the ship structure itself.
ONE Apus ran into heavy seas on the night of 30 November and its rolling motion in the storm was thought to have contributed to the massive loss of containers, thought to amount to a quarter of a billion dollars in value.
Source: Container News
Cargo owners are bearing most of the cost burden of the current congestion crisis that is affecting multiple container ports around the world – including loss of business as well as additional costs - with the ports themselves unlikely to suffer any significant long-term consequences, according to analysis by Drewry.
Ankush Kathuria, Lead Analyst at Drewry Maritime Financial Research, highlighted that shippers “generally bear the burden of inefficiencies within the supply chain”, noting that when they are aware of the inefficiency, they are better prepared. “But for inefficiencies caused by disruption - such as COVID-19 - shippers have to bear the indirect cost as well, such as loss of business due to late delivery and increased stock holding”, caused by longer or less-reliable service lead times.
Source: Lloyd´s Loading List
China’s exports jumped in November by the most since early 2018, pushing its trade surplus to a monthly record high and underlining how global demand for pandemic-related goods is supporting a growth rebound in the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese companies shipped $268 billion in goods in November, the most for any single month and more than 21% higher than the same month last year. Import growth eased to 4.5%, leaving a trade surplus of $75.4 billion - the largest on record in data going back to 1990.
Source: gCaptain, Bloomberg
The European Union's (EU) transport ministers have designed a new toll system, under which hauliers driving emissions-free trucks will get at least half off-road tolls within the EU.
Fossil fuel trucks will be charged based on their carbon emissions, with more efficient heavy-goods vehicles paying less, according to today's statement (8 December).
Green group Transport & Environment said that, if agreed by the EU parliament, the new Eurovignette law will speed up the transition to zero-emissions freight and help alleviate air pollution in cities.
Source: Container News
The Port of Virginia® on Saturday welcomed the HAMMONIA EMDEN, the first container ship in a new vessel service that gives the port a direct link to both Northern Europe, an important market for imports, and the Caribbean, an emerging market for export cargo.
Virginia is the only US East Coast stop for this weekly service, called the Caribbean Express Service, or CES; it is operated by ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd, a long-time port customer. The CES service vessels will call three ports in Northern Europe, come directly to Virginia and then sail to the Caribbean from here.
Source: AJOT
Shipping lines have announced the temporary suspension of cargo bookings into South China next month, blaming reduced capacity from local feeder operators.
The move has prompted dismay among local forwarders who have warned customers “not to hesitate” to take any chance of booking cargo prior to Chinese New Year, which falls on 12 February.
Source: The Loadstar
Air France KLM Martinair Cargo has launched the world’s first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) programme for the airfreight industry, enabling freight forwarders and shippers to reduce their CO2 emissions. By investing in the Cargo SAF Programme, customers will not only help pioneer the use of SAF in the industry, but will also scale up the SAF market, contributing to a cleaner future for air transport.
“Our commitment to reducing CO2 emissions is one of the cornerstones of our cargo strategy. The launch of a SAF programme for airfreight is an important step in our ambitious sustainability roadmap for the coming years. I invite all our customers to join us in creating a more sustainable cargo future,” said Adriaan den Heijer, EVP of Air France-KLM Cargo and managing director of Martinair.
Source: The Stat Trade Times
The Port of Long Beach is collaborating with its marine terminal operators to bolster the number of “two-way” truck deliveries amid the strongest cargo surge in the Port’s 109-year history.
The four companies that operate the Port’s six container terminals - International Transportation Service, Long Beach Container Terminal, SSA Marine and Total Terminals International - have committed to increasing the number of truck moves that pair an export container delivery with an import container pickup appointment during the same visit.
The Port and its container cargo terminal operators are working directly with truck drivers and customers to improve the appointment system and maximize the number of these dual transactions, aimed at balancing inbound and outbound cargo flow, and thus improve efficiency within the supply chain.
Source: AJOT
As Christmas nears and shippers and their forwarders across Europe and North America continue to face a widespread shortage of containers, port congestion issues, reduced vessel capacity and soaring prices, the question on everyone’s lips is when the container industry’s current bull run will end.
The answer, according to new analysis by SeaIntelligence CEO Lar Jensen, on behalf of the Baltic Exchange, is most likely to be around February’s Chinese New Year holiday, due to the paucity of options available to supply chain stakeholders.
Source: The Loadstar
As shipping lines have seen their fortunes made after a period of severe decline in volumes during the pandemic, ports and terminals have not fared so well in Europe’s key region, of the Hamburg – Le Havre range where volumes have declined by more than a third in some cases.
Vessel operators have the option of moving their assets around to the regions and trades exhibiting the greatest level of demand. Terminal operators have no such advantage, with huge investments in fixed assets to provide the interlinking infrastructure between ocean and landside movements within the supply chain.
Source: Container News
The Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) is backing India’s push for “all-inclusive” ocean freight rates, claiming carrier surcharges disproportionately impact cargo owners in developing countries.
Last week, Indian carriers and forwarders criticised the government’s plan to remove carriers’ ability to levy surcharges, arguing it would be unlikely to reduce costs and could put local exporters at a competitive disadvantage.
Source: The Loadstar
Cargo clearance at Kenya’s Mombasa port will be accelerated from December 2020 when the Customs and Border Control Department of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) switches to using the Sea Cargo Release module of the Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade). The full integration of the module into the KRA’a Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS) was due for completion by 30 November according to KenTrade, and will replace the Simba system that has been in operation since 2005. Importers will be required to use the new system to clear cargo before its arrival at port.
A pilot programme using the land and sea module has been ongoing since July of last year, while the air cargo module has been operating in various airports across the country since March 2019. The new system provides automated online cargo clearance processing and documentation submission integrated into a range of other functionalities.
Source: HKTDC Research
