Cape Of Good Hope News

Houthi militia have reportedly ceased attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea, and the impact could be seismic for global ocean container shipping, warns Chief Analyst Peter Sand at Xeneta. However, an immediate largescale return to the region will require a series of further assurances.“Details are sketchy, and you cannot base the safety of crews, ships and cargo on the word of Houthi militia. Carriers need far more assurance than that and, perhaps more importantly, so do insurance companies…

An EU warship secured the crew of an oil products tanker on Friday after it was attacked by pirates off Somalia, its operator and a European Union naval mission said, as worries grow over a resurgence of piracy after years of calm.Just hours earlier, in a separate incident, another vessel successfully outran a pirate skiff in the same area, maritime sources said.A recent spate of attacks on vessels off the Horn of Africa, including the first involving suspected Somali pirates in a year…

“Following US-China trade negotiations, China has committed to resume imports of US soya beans. The country has agreed to purchase 12m tonnes during the rest of 2025 and 25m tonnes per year during the next three years, similar to 2024 volumes. If these commitments are met, US soya bean shipments are expected to surge in the short term before stabilizing in the medium term,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.The agreement is expected to be positive for the dry bulk market and the US and Chinese economies.

"We estimate that the dry bulk supply/demand balance will strengthen slightly in 2025 and gradually weaken in 2026 and 2027. Cargo demand growth is slowing, as coal shipments decline and iron ore shipments stagnate,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Coal shipments are forecast to decline 4.9% between 2025 and 2027. Demand is falling as electricity generation from renewable sources continues to expand, particularly in China, Europe and India. Furthermore…

A sanctioned liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker made a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer off the coast of Malaysia after picking up a cargo from a Russian export terminal also under Western restrictions, according to two analytics firms.The operation appears to be the first known STS transfer of sanctioned Russian LNG, despite Western efforts to curb Moscow's energy revenues over its war in Ukraine.The LNG tanker Perle, which was sanctioned by the United States in January, had been…

Descartes has released its September Global Shipping Report, which analyzes the latest economic and logistics trends shaping U.S. imports and global trade.According to data from Descartes’ global trade intelligence platform, Descartes Datamyne:U.S. container imports declined 8.4% from August, reaching over 2.3M TEUs in September – representing the third-highest September on record. Its volumes are 1.9% ahead of the same period in 2024, demonstrating resilience in demand despite trade uncertainty.Imports from China fell 12.3% month-over-month and 22.9% year-over-year.

A Chinese container ship has completed a pioneering journey through the Arctic to a UK port, state-run news agency Xinhua reported, cutting in half the usual transit time for the electric vehicles and solar panels aboard destined for Europe.The Istanbul Bridge's maiden voyage, originally expected to take 18 days, was delayed by two days due to a storm off the coast of Norway but the ship still reached Europe earlier than the 40 to 50 days it takes freighters going through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope.The new Northern Sea Route…

The shipping industry is experiencing major volatility amid rising geopolitical tensions and disruptions caused by a wave of new tariffs, according to a report published on Wednesday by the U.N. Trade and Development agency.Due to an increasingly complex and uncertain global trade environment, subdued industrial activity in major economies and weak Chinese demand for bulk commodities, UNCTAD has revised down its maritime trade growth forecast for 2025.It now projects overall maritime trade volume to expand 0.5% annually…

“On the strength of demand in trade lanes not bound for the US, we have increased our ship demand growth forecast for 2025 to 4.5-5.5% while maintaining it at 2.5-3.5% for 2026. We now expect a balanced supply/demand development in 2026 while expecting average market conditions in 2025 to be worse than in 2024,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.With few exceptions, the US tariff increases presented on “Liberation Day” are now implemented in full. In addition…

“We forecast a balanced development in the crude tanker market in 2025 and 2026 while we expect the product tanker market to remain weaker than in 2024. The product tanker suffers under the weight of increasing supply growth and weaker demand growth due to shorter sailing distances,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Due to OPEC+’s recent decision to reverse oil production cuts, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has increased its crude oil supply forecast significantly.

“We forecast that bulker deliveries will gradually increase this year and in 2026, reaching 41.2m Deadweight Tonnes (DWT) and a six-year high. Bulker newbuilding contracting was strong in 2023 and 2024, and several of the ships ordered during this period are expected to be delivered during this and next year,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Of the 59.3 million DWT expected to be delivered until the end of 2026, the panamax segment accounts for 33.9% while supramax accounts for 28.3%.

Several Greek-managed tankers transporting Russian oil to Asia are increasingly avoiding the Red Sea, opting instead for the longer route around Africa, due to escalating security threats from Houthi attacks, three oil traders and LSEG shipping data show.The rerouting follows a deadly drone and speedboat assault earlier this month on a Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier off Yemen, which killed four seafarers. The Iran-backed Houthi group also sank another vessel in July…

New U.S. tariffs and escalating global trade tensions have reshaped vessel markets in the first half of 2025, curbing investment in some sectors while accelerating strategic orders in others, according to the Half-Year Market Report by Veson Nautical, a provider of maritime freight management solutions and data intelligence.The report states that U.S. trade policy changes hit vehicle carrier markets particularly hard, contributing to a 44% drop in charter rates for standard 6…

The World Shipping Council (WSC) has released its annual Containers Lost at Sea report, showing that 576 containers were lost at sea in 2024.While this represents an increase from the record-low 221 containers lost in 2023, it remains well below the 10-year average of 1,274 containers lost annually, underscoring continued industry progress on safety and prevention.Container losses in 2024 were influenced by ongoing disruption in the Red Sea region, which led to a significant shift in global trade routes. Vessel transits around the Cape of Good Hope increased by 191% compared to 2023.

Japan's second-largest shipping company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), is operating as usual in the Gulf while closely monitoring the situation in the region, CEO Takeshi Hashimoto said on Tuesday."We are operating so many containers, car carriers and chemical tankers so that it is very, very difficult for us to reduce or stop with the service," Hashimoto told Reuters on the sidelines of the Energy Asia conference.Shippers re-routed via the Cape of Good Hope after Yemeni Houthis attacked ships in the Red Sea…

Fortescue’s Green Pioneer, billed as the world’s first ammonia dual-powered vessel, left Singapore in January of this year on voyage past the Cape of Good Hope en route initially to Southampton, both for Port State Control and to demonstrate the use of ammonia in its engines to the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), and then on to London’s Canary Wharf where is stayed through mid-April, before travelling to other north European ports.At the time when the IMO’s Marine Environment…

Lloyd’s Register Advisory has verified the performance of Anemoi Marine Technologies’ wind-assisted rotor sails on TR Lady Kamsarmax following a year-long, multi-voyage testing period.In a Statement of Fact, Lloyd’s Register Advisory confirmed the methodology Anemoi used for calculating fuel and emissions savings from the three 24 meters high Rotor Sails installed on TR Lady - a Kamsarmax bulk carrier owned in funds managed by Tufton Investment Management and chartered by Cargill.The…

“Between January and April 2025, dry bulk ship recycling has fallen 24% y/y, reaching a 17-year low despite a 35% y/y drop in the Baltic Dry Index (BDI). While weaker freight rates typically encourage the recycling of older and less profitable ships, high uncertainty over the demand outlook could be delaying recycling decisions,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Dry bulk ship recycling has been slow since the first quarter of 2021 when freight rates significantly strengthened due to a pickup in demand and congestion.

The prospect of a large scale return of container ships to the Red Sea following the announcement of a ceasefire between the US and Houthi militia in Yemen would flood the market with shipping capacity and cause a global collapse in freight rates, but the situation remains far from certain.Data released by Xeneta, an ocean and air freight intelligence platform, shows global TEU-mile demand would decrease 6% if container ships begin sailing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal again…

The tariff increases by the US and China in effect as of April 25 are estimated to directly affect 4% of dry bulk ton mile demand. They are expected to impact the growth of minor bulk cargo volumes, as shipments to the US may stagnate or decrease. On the other hand, China is expected to increase purchases of dry bulk cargoes from other countries, leading the US to seek alternative markets.“We expect that the dry bulk market’s supply/demand balance will weaken in both 2025 and 2026.

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices remained at a near one-year low this week, as supply disruptions from three export facilities in the region and some buying interest capped losses fuelled by overall weak demand.The average LNG price for June delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS was at $11.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), estimated industry sources, down from $11.80/mmBtu last week but still at its lowest levels since mid-May."Lower Asian LNG prices this week prompted opportunistic buying by some East Asian importers, while supply disruptions at export projects in Australia and Brunei provided support to otherwise falling regional fundamentals…

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices remained at their lowest level in nearly six months on Friday as U.S. President Trump's "liberation day" tariffs pulled global markets down amid fears of a global recession.The average LNG price for May delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS remained unchanged from last week at $13.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the lowest level since October 11, industry sources estimated."The risk of a global trade war and economic slowdown is pulling down global stock markets and fears of slower growth will impact energy prices too…

Average container freight rates for Chinese exports have dropped 28% since the start of the year, according to BIMCO. This posts the worst first quarter development in twenty years. Based on input from twenty-three liner operators, the China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) reflects the general export freight rate level from ten major ports.The 28% fall reduced the CCFI from 1,548 at the beginning of the year to 1,112 at the end of the first quarter, not least due to a record high fall in spot freight rates.