Alphaliner News

The U.S. is one week away from imposing port fees on certain vessels with links to China, a move expected to cost the top 10 carriers $3.2 billion next year as President Donald Trump seeks to address China's growing dominance on the high seas."While some observers believe the October 14 deadline may be extended - or even scrapped - as part of broader negotiations, the uncertainty has already unsettled carriers, adding another layer of geopolitical risk to fleet deployment strategies…

The U.S. is one week away from imposing port fees on certain vessels with links to China, a move expected to cost the top 10 carriers $3.2 billion next year as President Donald Trump seeks to address China's growing dominance on the high seas."While some observers believe the October 14 deadline may be extended — or even scrapped — as part of broader negotiations, the uncertainty has already unsettled carriers, adding another layer of geopolitical risk to fleet deployment strategies…

Despite significantly weaker freight rates, the average price for five-year-old container ships has increased 17% year-on-year and 6% since the beginning of 2025,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.The average per TEU price of a basket of seven five-year-old container ships was $9,761/TEU in late August 2024. Since then, the price has risen to $10,758/TEU at the beginning of 2025 and to $11,413/TEU in late August.Feeder ships smaller than 3,000 TEU have seen…

Operators of hulking car carriers are seeking relief from the U.S. Trade Representative's surprise plan to levy port fees on all foreign-built ships in that segment, including 20 vessels that guarantee transport for the U.S. military during a war or national emergency, three sources told Reuters.USTR announced the fees on April 17 as part of an ongoing effort to hit certain China-linked ships calling at U.S. ports with fees that would fund a domestic shipbuilding revival and counter China's dominance on the high seas.The fees sent a shockwave through the vehicle carrier industry…

A Trump administration proposal aimed at reviving the U.S. shipbuilding industry may backfire by imposing steep fees on China-linked vessels—penalties that industry leaders say would hurt American ship operators and ports rather than help them, industry executives said at U.S. Trade Representative hearings on Monday.At issue are proposed, stacking fees on China-built vessels that could top $3 million per U.S. port call. The Trump administration says the fees would curb China's growing commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote domestically built vessels. U.S.

A new report from the UCL Energy Institute has highlighted the looming risk of maritime asset stranding, stating that a rapid energy transition could “lead to ‘premature scrapping’ of over a third of the fleet, valued at over $400 billion, unless they undergo costly retrofits to remain competitive in the wake of new GHG policies and wider energy transition.”The report reveals that existing vessels and newbuilds on order will produce double the emissions permissible under a 1.5°C-aligned carbon budget…

A fire broke out on board a Madeira-registered containership moored at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.The MSC Capetown III was berthed at Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) on Sunday when the fire erupted and eventually escalated to an explosion, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said. The incident occurred in the 41/43 hatch area, where a fire initiated in the vicinity of 100 under-deck containers and 60 on-deck containers. All operations staff and crews were safely evacuated from the ship…

As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

Shipping companies are transforming rust buckets into gold mines in a modern-day alchemy that could fuel already rampant inflation for years to come.The disruption to world trade caused by pandemic lockdowns and a shortage of new cargo vessels has pushed freight rates for ageing containerships to record highs.Cashing in on the boom, shipping firms are locking in long-term leases lasting three to four years, which means consumers could carry on paying the price for the surge in costs until hundreds of new ships on order come into service.Take the Synergy Oakland…

Shipping group Maersk, often seen as a barometer for global trade, on Tuesday cautioned the container market may normalize in the second half of the year, even as it raised full-year guidance driven by high container freight rates.The shipping industry has seen record profits in recent quarters as a surge in consumer demand, pandemic-related bottlenecks in U.S. and Chinese ports and more recently an airspace closure following Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted a spike in freight rates.But the forecast from Maersk…

Swiss-based container group MSC has overtaken Denmark's Maersk as the world's biggest shipper, the company said, confirming data from intelligence provider Alphaliner.After taking delivery of several ships last year, MSC or Mediterranean Shipping Company has capacity to move the equivalent of 4,284 million twenty-foot containers, Alphaliner said. That compares with Maersk's 4,282 million.Both companies, which according to Alphaliner hold markets share of around 17%, said size was not the objective.Asked for comment…

As ports and hinterland transport struggle to keep up, delays at ports are soaking up capacity leading to frustration on the shippers’ side and leaving carriers struggling to keep up all the while making record profits, shipping organization BIMCO reports.Drivers of demand and freight ratesThe container shipping market has frequently appeared in the headlines over the summer as freight rates and port congestion levels continue to reach record highs. Port closures caused by COVID…

German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd said on Thursday it almost tripled its net result in 2020 due to lower costs and higher freight rates, but shied away from specifying 2021 results due to uncertainty in the coronavirus crisis.The net result in 2020 amounted to 935 million euros ($1.12 billion) compared with 373 million euros in 2019 after revenue rose 3% and freight rates increased 4%, it said in a statement.Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth largest container line, expected to…

What started as a red-hot container market for Far East to U.S. trades has now spread to other routes, with rates from the Far East to Brazil seeing particularly high spot rates, BIMCO says. On January 24, 2021, the base freight rate for a forty-foot container from the Far East to the Port of Santos reached $9,299. Average rates for January are now 230.5% higher than they were in January 2020.Santos is the largest container port in South America, handling 4.2 million TEU in 2019 alone.The red-hot spot market is a result of the imbalance of trade over the past year…

Transits through the Suez Canal, the beating heart of the Egyptian economy, have stayed remarkably resilient to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic if judging by total transits of the three commercial shipping sectors which are up 8% year-on-year. This is despite bleak economic growth prospects world-wide following the pandemic, and highlights that shipping remains the backbone of the global economy.It is often said that a picture says more than 1,000 words, but 6,166 ship transits in the Suez Canal can certainly also tell an interesting tale.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a pandemic. There is little doubt that this will have significant implications for the shipping industry. But to what extent? BIMCO expects that the strict containment measures imposed by governments around the world will result in substantially lower global economic growth and consequentially, lower demand for shipping. Container and dry bulk shipping are at the front line when it comes to feeling the fallout…

U.S. retailers face an estimated $700 million sales hit from the coronavirus and some shipping lines are sending vessels to retrieve empty cargo containers from Los Angeles to prevent further supply disruptions.The extended shutdown of factories in China caused by the virus, travel restrictions on workers and canceled sailings by shipping lines have thrown off the movement of containers, resulting in a surplus at the Port of Los Angeles and a shortage in Germany.U.S. retailers'…

For 2020, global container demand is projected to grow by 1-3%, as per forecast by A.P. Moller - Maersk.The continued weak global sentiment above all in the manufacturing sector reduces the likelihood of a material growth pick-up in 2020, although sentiment brightened a bit at the end of 2019, and some improvement can be expected on the back of stabilizing inventory dynamics, said the shipping giant.Aside from the cyclical slowing of the global economy, substantial risk to global container demand comes from the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy in major economies, such as the US and China.The global economy is vulnerable to a spike in oil prices caused by geopolitical tensions…

China's fast-spreading coronavirus is throwing the global container shipping trade out of sync, with lines re-routing cargoes and reducing calls to Chinese ports, setting the scene for months of delivery delays ahead, industry sources said.The spread of the deadly virus has shut down cities and factories in China and disrupted global air travel.China's decision to extend its Lunar New Year holiday period until Feb. 10 has compounded logistical complications, despite its ports staying open.

French container shipping giant  CMA CGM plans to sell selected port terminals, ships and other assets to raise roughly $2 billion to finance its acquisition of CEVA Logistics, according to Reuters.Chinese state-owned conglomerate China Merchants Port has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with CMA CGM to acquire interests in a portfolio of 10 terminals from the French container line and its affiliates via Terminal Link for a total consideration of $955 million.As part of the deal, China Merchants Port will buy as much as $468 million of convertible bonds issued by the joint venture, Terminal Link, and will loan as much as $500 million to CMA CGM.CMA CGM is also raising about $860 million from a ship sale and lease-back deal.

Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation takes a hit with a net loss of about USD 42 million for the third quarter and sees signs of "weaker demand" in the container market.Yang Ming said that according to analyst firm Alphaliner’s latest projections, annual capacity growth is forecast at 3.7% and global throughput growth for 2019 is estimated at only 2.5%, which suggests a softer market demand than was previously expected.Meanwhile, the container shipping market remains vulnerable to trade uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. It is unclear the extent of potential impact those tensions and uncertainties will have on demand.Despite unpredictable market conditions…

Taiwanese shipping line Evergreen has confirmed its plans to build a total of ten 23,000 TEU containerships.According to a stock exchange filing, the new vessels would be built at three shipyards  in South Korea and China.According to the reports from the South China Morning Post, the enormous order will cost Evergreen anywhere between US$1.4 billion and US$1.6 billion. It is estimated that each vessel will cost between $140 million and $160 million.The new vessels could see Evergreen become the sixth biggest carrier line in the world, overtaking major Japanese alliance Ocean Network Express (ONE).Six of the vessels will built at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea…

Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation reported a consolidated revenues of about  NTD 40.4 billion (USD 1.3 billion) for the second quarter of 2019, up 20.24% compared to the same period of prior year.Business volumes increased by 5% year-on-year to 1.35 million TEUs. Net loss for second quarter of the year was NTD 1.27 billion (USD 40.99 million).Meanwhile, Yang Ming’s consolidated revenues for the first half of 2019 rose by 16.77% compared with the same period in the previous year to NTD 75.48 billion (USD 2.44 billion), an increase in business volume of 5% to 2.64 million TEUs. The net loss for the first half year was NTD 1.95 billion (USD 62.94 million).As reported by analyst firm Alphaliner…