Containers

MSC has published a letter to its customer, stating that test procedures related to import reefer cargo has slowed down the operations in the port of Xingang, China. Below is the letter in full. "Dear Customer, The COVID test procedures related to import reefer cargo are slowing down the operations in…

European reefer rates are seeing upward pressure with some major lines announcing significant increases, for reefer cargo in particular, but also for standard freight containers too.

CMA CGM has unveiled the largest peak season surcharge (PSS) of US$600 per reefer box from North Europe, Baltic, Scandinavia and Poland to Middle East Gulf, Red Sea, India and Pakistan, effective from 1 December.

On the same date, Hapag-Lloyd will apply a PSS of US$200/reefer container from Spain, Italy and Morocco to Canada and the US on its Mediterranean Canada Service (MCA) service.

Additionally, the German carrier has also announced an increased ocean tariff rate for all cargoes in 20’ and 40’ standard containers on the east bound trade from Spain and Italy to East Asia.

Valid for sailings commencing on 1 December onwards and until further notice, Hapag-Lloyd’s rates from Spain and Italy to East Asia will be:

In the meantime, the French shipping group will implement another PSS on 3 December. This surcharge will apply for all cargo types (except out of gauge) from Italy to Central America East & West Coasts, Mexico West Coast, the Caribbean & Winwards (Puerto Rico & Cuba excluded) and will be €50 (US$60)/20' | €75 (US$90)/40'.

Carrier Transicold’s EverFresh® active controlled-atmosphere system for refrigerated containers now offers a new carbon dioxide (CO2) injection option to better preserve low-respiring, high-value perishable cargo. Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier Global Corporation, a leading global provider of…

FlashLink RTL Prime 3G-2T In-Transit Logger, Model 22367, is the first of its kind. With its unique 15m/50ft external and internal sensor combination, one logger can monitor supply air temperature in real-time, while also recording temperature at the back of the container. Additionally, this unit tracks…

Shippers, truckers, and freight forwarders reeling from almost US$150 million in demurrage fees linked to congestion in the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York this year have threatened to take their complaints to US congress to bring an end to carrier abuses.

More than 40 shippers and trucking associations have teamed up to criticise carriers’ failure to respect an “interpretative rule” introduced by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in May that sought to govern conflicts on the issue of demurrage and detention fees.

Members of the Harbor Trucking Association, the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, and the Pacific Coast Council of Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers inundated the FMC at the start of the month with complaints about demurrage fees that have reached US$100 million in Los Angeles/Long Beach and US$50 million in New York already this year.

But when the Moyers moved to Montana they knew they wanted to begin building their vertical greens farm here. Freight Farms is a Boston-based ...

The current global shortage of containers is strongly increasing the purchase price of new equipment and leasing rates. According to the latest container availability index developed by the Container xChange platform, which measures the availability of containers on a 0 to 1 scale where 0.5 marks the…

In the past three months, freight rates for container liners have continued to climb and warehouse shortages have become prevalent. Against the backdrop of a limited shipping capacity, in addition to skyrocketing shipping freights costs and difficulty in booking available containers, during the peak…

As an astronomer and physicist, John Cannon's work is literally out of this world. His expertise as the department chair at Macalester College in St. Paul is studying nearby low-mass galaxies. Cannon's latest adventure off St. Paul's Snelling Avenue is, quite literally, more down to earth: backyard…

The 2018-built container ship ONE Aquila has suffered a container stack collapse, said to be caused by bad weather, while the vessel was sailing towards the port of Long Beach, according to Hapag-Lloyd, a THE Alliance's partner of the ship operator, Ocean Network Express (ONE).

The incident has affected a number of containers, the total number has not yet been clarified. ONE anticipates that the 14,000TEU boxship will be significantly delayed, considering the terminal congestion expected in the California ports.

The Singaporean line has not yet published a scheduled recovery plan, which will be shared by the company once available.

ONE Aquila is deployed on the Pacific South Loop 7 (PS7), a service operated by THE Alliance which is comprised of Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Yang Ming and HMM.

Ship operators in the container shipping sector have a five-year window in which to develop their integrated systems that will allow them to compete with the online freight forwarders and the likes of Amazon, said a former Maersk Line chief information officer.

Speaking exclusively to Container News Adam Banks said that the container shipping sector now has the technology to develop its online systems that will allow them to meet the challenge from the online companies that have evolved over the last 10 years.

According to Banks the three elements that will allow the type of integration necessary for the carriers are the development of reliable sensors that have a battery life of six to 12 months with the global connectivity that will allow the carriers to gain a competitive advantage.

“Being an asset owner gives the carriers a potential advantage over competitors, in the past that wasn’t the case, but now technology has caught up and that makes joined up integrated systems operating in real time a possibility,” explained Banks.

Essentially, as the lines own the assets on which the cargo is transported, the ships, ports/terminals, and trucks and trains to a lesser extent, they will be able to offer services that non-vessel operating companies will not be capable of.

Hapag-Lloyd has announced several new Asia charges, which will take effect in the last two months of the year.

The German carrier will apply general rate increases (GRI) from various regions of Asia to Australia on 1 December for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers.

The first frosts have already arrived in Ontario, but in Sheshegwaning First Nation, a small community on the western edge of Manitoulin Island, April Folz is still awaiting the first harvest of the year. In about a week, Folz says, the community will have fresh produce: “Monte Carlo romaine lettuce,…

Recent industrial action has caused a massive backlog of empty containers in Sydney and to a lesser extent in other capital city ports in Australia, according to Shipping Australia Limited (SAL).

Ocean shipping companies lose money and revenue-earning opportunities if empty boxes are uselessly hanging about in the country and SAL said in its announcement that one way to tackle the backlog is the use of “sweeper” vessels, boxships to pick up and take away empty boxes.

But the ongoing container disruption in Sydney due to industrial action has resulted in availability issues on additional berth slots, which shipping companies need to bring in the sweeper ships.

Asia rates have increased again, as some of the largest container shipping companies have announced new charges in the region.

In the first instance, Hapag-Lloyd has published higher prices in East Asia from next month. The German carrier will implement the following ocean tariff rates for all cargoes for 20’ and 40’ general purpose containers, including high cube boxes, on the eastbound trade from Turkey to East Asia, effective from 1 November.

Standard Container

On the same date, the line will apply a general rate increase (GRI) of US$600 per box from East Asia to South America East Coast and a GRI of US$200 per 40' from Middle East, which includes Arabian Gulf, India and Saudi Arabia, to Ghana.

In

Pickup charges for container users are becoming more expensive across Chinese ports due to increasing container imbalances, according to the latest Container xChange report.

European and the US importers currently struggle to return empty containers to Asia, according to Container Availability Index data. As a result, these ports suffer from increasing dwell times and port congestion.

On the other hand, carriers in Chinese ports are setting new regulations to control the imbalances. The German container line Hapag-Lloyd, for example, will now only release empty containers from its mainland China depots for a maximum of eight days prior to the arrival of the sailing.

Average pickup charges for container users

Stretch Average of PU Charge (in US$) Antwerp - Mundra 56.5 Shanghai - Tacoma, WA 61.4 Port Kelang - Karachi 82.25 Port Kelang - Nhava Sheva 91.08 Qingdao - Moscow 241 Shanghai - Moscow 243 Shanghai - Duisburg 617 Shanghai - Waersaw 735 Shanghai – Gothenburg 739.5

For this table, Container xChange looked at the most used stretches on its platform in the last four years. The company noticed that the average price to pickup equipment varies between different locations and container types. On average, container users pay US$256 to pick up containers on the platform (if pickup charge > 0).

The slowdown in manufacturing and export orders worldwide has resulted in a moderate container trade growth in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic further impacted global demand in 2020. Ship Technology lists the ten biggest shipping companies based on their total twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacity in…

Data is becoming increasingly important in our industry and no more so than now, but how can we collect that data and what do we do with it when we have it? Hanane Becha, Project Lead IoT Program, DCSA Digital Container Shipping Association, said that standards for containers and reefers are no longer…

CMA CGM Jacques Saade , the world’s first LNG-powered containership with a capacity of 23,000 containers (twenty-foot equivalent units), has set a world record for the number of full containers loaded on a single vessel. On her departure from Singapore on Monday 12th October, the CMA CGM Group’s new…

Shipping lines have pushed up their rates again across the world with three out of the five largest container shipping companies announcing a number of increases on a variety of trade routes.

But notably, Hapag-Lloyd has postponed its US rate rise, which was subject to Federal Maritime Authority scrutiny, to November.

The German carrier has rescheduled the 15 October GRI from East Asia to the US and Canada, with the exception of all Japan origin cargo.

The new effective date of the this GRI, excluding Japan, will be 15 November. This GRI will apply for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers as follows:

East Asia to North America (USA and Canada)

US$960 per all 20' container types US$1200 per all 40' container types

East Asia is defined as being the countries/districts of Republic of Korea, China/Taiwan, China/Hong Kong, China (PRC), China/Macau, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, The Philippines and Russian Pacific Coast Provinces.

DeltaTrak Inc. is promoting a data logger designed for ocean containers at the Produce Marketing Association’s virtual Fresh Summit.

The FlashLink RTL (real-time logger) Prime 3G-2T In-Transit Logger has an internal sensor to measure air temperatures when placed at the back of containers, and an external sensor on a 50-foot cable that measures supply air temperature, according to a news release.

The loggers help shippers:

Compare two sets of temperature data; Expedite inspections and insurance claims; and Verify that product was carried on the ship in correct temperature range.

GEODIS' online emissions calculator that determines the carbon footprint of a freight shipment is freely available on its website.

Accessed via https://geodis.com/geodis_carbon_calculator/form, the calculator measures air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions generated by an individual shipment’s journey, comparing the performance of different modes of transport (air, rail, road, sea, inland waterway, etc.).

For each shipment of goods, the calculator gives an overview of the various options, making it an invaluable aid in choosing the most environmentally friendly transport, said GEODIS. At the same time, the tool performs calculations that take into account the goods being shipped, their origin, destination and mode of transport before providing a quantitative evaluation.

25 years ago, Maersk Container Industry (MCI) introduced the company’s first refrigerated container, paving the way for two and a half decades of transportation of perishable goods across the world in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way than ever before. Today, MCI not only focuses on the…

Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd have announced rate increases out of Asia to a number of destinations in North America and Africa.

In the first instance, the carrier will apply higher rates from Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Indian Subcontinent to North America, effective from 1 November.

Origins Destinations Cargo Type 20DC / 40DC 40High /40HREEF / 45HDry Effective date Pakistan, UAE and Indian sub-continent United States and Canada DRY/REEF US$400 US$400 1 November

Hapag-Lloyd has also announced a new general rate increase (GRI) on the eastbound Pacific trades from East Asia to all US and Canadian destinations. The new GRI will apply for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers and will take effect from 1 November.

East Asia to North America (USA and Canada)

US$960 per all 20' container types US$1,200 per all 40' container types

In addition, the German carrier will implement increased rates for all cargo types from Middle East, which includes Arabian Gulf, India and Saudi Arabia, to West Africa, from 10 October, as follows:

US$500 per 20‘

Last but not least, as of 5 October, the Hamburg-based firm has pushed up its rates for all cargo from the Indian Subcontinent (except for Nhava Sheva and Mundra) to East Africa as follows:

US$100 per 20‘

Hapag-Lloyd has announced several fresh prices in Australia, which will take effect from October and November.

First of all, the German carrier will apply new General Rate Increases (GRI) from North East Asia, South East Asia, Middle East and Indian Subcontinent to Australia as of 1 November for all dry, reefer, non-operating reefer, tank, flat rack and open-top containers as follows:

North East Asia to Australia

US$300/20’ all equipment types US$600/40’ all equipment types

North East Asia comprises Korea, China, China/Hong Kong, China/Macau and China/Taiwan.

South East Asia to Australia

US$150/20’ all equipment types US$300/40’ all equipment types

South East Asia comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Middle East and Indian Subcontinent to Australia

US$150/20’ all equipment types US$300/40’ all equipment types

Middle East comprises United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Yemen and Indian Subcontinent comprises Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

In addition, the Hamburg-based shipping company has revised its booking cancellation and booking amendment fees for all applicable export shipments from Australia as follows:

Booking Amendment Fee - AUD 50 (US$36) / container Booking Cancellation Fee - AUD 100 (US$72) / container

CMA CGM has announced its intention to raise rates on the Asia to Europe trades from the 1 October.

Freight of all kinds (FAK) will be reviewed on or before the 14 October, said the line. The new rates are as follows:

Origin Range: From all Asian ports, including Japan, Southeast Asia and Bangladesh. Destination Range: To all Northern European ports, including UK and the full range from Portugal to Finland/Estonia. Cargo: Dry cargo, out of gauge cargo, paying empties and reefer cargo.

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Both the Pacific and Asia to Europe rates have shown increases this week even after regulatory authorities in China, the US, Europe and South Korea have moved to monitor rates in both trades.

Asia to Europe rates were US$2,214/FEU today up from US$1,385/FEU on a year ago and by US$347/FEU on last week’s Freightos FBX11 index which recorded rates of US$I,867/FEU for 11 September.

Meanwhile, rates on the dynamic trades in the Pacific were also up as the FBX01 settled at US$3,805/FEU on 18 September an increase of US$22 on 17 September and US$104/FEU on 11 September levels. A year ago the FBX01 stood at US$1,140/FEU, less than one third of today’s levels.

Consultant Jon Monroe points to retail sales figures for August showing a year-on-year increases.

Following up on last week’s efforts by the Chinese Ministry of Transport to curb runaway spot rates, United States authorities have threatened to take carriers to court if they discover evidence of collusion in the container shipping industry’s highly profitable response to the global pandemic.

The US government’s Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) called a private meeting yesterday (16 September) to discuss what it described as “market trends in trade lanes serving the US and actions taken by both individual carriers and global alliances in response to Covid-19 and related impacts to the shipping industry”.

Spot rates between Asia and the US peaked last week at US$3,711/FEU on the west coast and US$4,496/FEU to the east coast, according to Freightos’ FBX01 Daily and FBX03 Daily Indexes.

The resulting surge in carrier profitability and a miserable peak season for shippers dealing with soaring transportation costs have surprised all leading analysts.

P&O Ferrymasters announced the launch of an advanced track and trace service for its container customers, making it the first major logistics business in Europe to introduce the technology. The service will allow customers to receive real-time updates on the precise location of their goods as they are…