Cape of Good Hope Archives - The Loadstar

Regional feeder lines dip their toes into India-Red Sea trades

Angelo Mathais India correspondent — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:37:40 +0000

India-Middle East-Red Sea trades are seeing an influx of capacity from regional feeder carriers, with slots shared with NVOs for assured cargo support, as mainliners continue to reroute vessels via the Cape of Good Hope with longer transits and schedule disruptions.
CULines, CStar and UGL, relatively newcomers to the industry, have joined the capacity bandwagon, notwithstanding the perceptible security risks and higher insurance costs attached to Red Sea routings.
Under a vessel-sharing ...

The post Regional feeder lines dip their toes into India-Red Sea trades appeared first on The Loadstar.

Red Sea crisis provides a bonus for Chinese container manufacturers

Martina Li in Taiwan — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 11:42:13 +0000

China International Marine Containers (CIMC), the world’s largest container manufacturer, said its output in the first nine months of the year rose five-fold after the Red Sea crisis sparked resurgent demand.
From output of 2,490,000 boxes, (including 93,400 reefers, up 17%) revenue rose 36% year on year, to CNY128.97bn ($18.37bn), while net profit nearly doubled, to CNY2.73bn ($388.35m).
CIMC said: “In the first three quarters, global container trade demand rebounded. Clarksons recently ...

The post Red Sea crisis provides a bonus for Chinese container manufacturers appeared first on The Loadstar.

CMA CGM offers discount vouchers to fill ships out of India as exports dip

Angelo Mathais India correspondent — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:17:24 +0000

A growing cargo crunch seems to be prompting container lines serving Indian trades to devise new strategies to attract volumes to fill their vessels.
Among the major carriers serving the trades is CMA CGM and the French carrier is offering discount vouchers to customers booking shipments on its spot window.
For example, from India to Australia this week, it offered a “SpotOn” discount of $300 per teu, a Mumbai-based freight forwarder told ...

The post CMA CGM offers discount vouchers to fill ships out of India as exports dip appeared first on The Loadstar.

Gemini warns of ‘meltdown’ when Suez reopens

Charlotte Goldstone — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 10:51:17 +0000

Maersk has warned of an “operational meltdown” when carriers are able to use the Suez Canal again.
The Danish liner, along with Hapag-Lloyd, announced their hub-and-spoke Gemini Cooperation services would go round the Cape of Good Hope instead of the still-volatile Red Sea.
Maersk told customers yesterday: “After thorough consideration, and given the continued safety concerns in the Red Sea, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk confirm they expect to phase-in their Cape of Good ...

The post Gemini warns of ‘meltdown’ when Suez reopens appeared first on The Loadstar.

Insurance claims on the rise with box ships forced to brave Cape weather

Charlotte Goldstone — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 10:36:34 +0000

There has been a prolific rise in weather-related cargo loss and insurance claims since carriers have been forced to brave the extreme conditions round the Cape of Good Hope to escape Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Conventional wisdom has it that ships should avoid heavy storms where possible to minimise the risk of container loss, but the past 270-or so days of re-routing have seen vessels exposed to extreme weather ...

The post Insurance claims on the rise with box ships forced to brave Cape weather appeared first on The Loadstar.

THEA ‘plugs the gaps’ as Gemini network preparations steam ahead

Alexander Whiteman — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:15:09 +0000

Ahead of the official departure of Hapag-Lloyd from THE Alliance next February, remaining partners ONE, Yang Ming and HMM continue to work closely to plug potential holes in THEA network to mitigate the impact of the German carrier’s exit.
Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd and Gemini alliance partner Maersk say they are “ahead of schedule” with plans for their new east-west vessel-sharing network.
Alphaliner reports that, from October, THEA’s FE4 Asia-North Europe loop will resume ...

The post THEA ‘plugs the gaps’ as Gemini network preparations steam ahead appeared first on The Loadstar.

Idle box ship fleet at record lows as carriers drain charter market of tonnage

Alexander Whiteman — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 12:05:29 +0000

Despite more than two million teu of newbuild container vessels joining the global fleet so far this year, the pool of open tonnage remains at a record low.
This presents a significant challenge to carrier ship managers looking to compensate for schedule delays and essential dry-docking by tapping into the charter market.
According to a survey by Alphaliner, there were only 67 vessels, with a capacity of 195,159 teu, recorded as commercially ...

The post Idle box ship fleet at record lows as carriers drain charter market of tonnage appeared first on The Loadstar.

US east coast port strike would be a ‘spot rate lifeline’ for ocean carriers

Alexander Whiteman — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 12:04:11 +0000

With each week that passes, the risk of a US east and Gulf coast dock strike is heightened; but ILA president Harold Daggett’s pledge that his union members will “hit the streets” on 1 October could be a silver lining for ocean carriers.
Carriers privately admit that supply chain disruption from that strike could be the antidote to a rates collapse in the final quarter of the year.
Container spot rates from ...

The post US east coast port strike would be a ‘spot rate lifeline’ for ocean carriers appeared first on The Loadstar.

Arctic Northern Sea Route a new way to avoid the Red Sea?

Alexander Whiteman — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 11:21:06 +0000

Chinese general cargo vessels have found a novel way around the problems in the Red Sea – sailing via the Arctic Northern Sea Route (NSR).
New New Shipping’s Xin Xin Hai 1 and Xin Xin Hai have embarked on a journey that will take them through the thawing NSR, navigable with icebreaker assistance during the summer months.
But scientists say climate change and melting ice sheets will soon make it possible to ...

The post Arctic Northern Sea Route a new way to avoid the Red Sea? appeared first on The Loadstar.

Red Sea: Aries crew free, but more escalation on the way as box ships flee

Alex Lennane — Fri, 03 May 2024 11:38:40 +0000

Iran claims to have released the crew of Aries, who have been held captive for just short of three weeks.
The 15,000-teu MSC container vessel and its crew of Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Russian and Estonian nationals were taken captive on 13 April, with video footage from the vessel showing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) marines rappelling onto the deck from a helicopter.
Iran had been helping coordinate the actions of its proxies, Hezbollah ...

The post Red Sea: Aries crew free, but more escalation on the way as box ships flee appeared first on The Loadstar.