Cargo News

BIMCO has released its Container Shipping Market Overview & Outlook March 2026 saying the Iran war amplifies outlook uncertainty."Following the start of attacks on Iran on 28 February, transits through the Strait of Hormuz have effectively stopped, severing Persian Gulf ports from global container services. As a result, around 130 container ships, totalling about 1.5% of the global fleet’s capacity, are stranded in the gulf. The war has added uncertainty to an outlook that was already obscured by ever changing US tariffs…

Hapag-Lloyd has published its annual report for the 2025 fiscal year, announcing that the group EBITDA stood at $3.6 billion (EUR 3.2 billion) and profits at $1.0 billion (EUR 0.9 billion).The result was at the upper end of the earnings forecast, but below the previous year, particularly owing to lower freight rates and higher operational costs.“2025 was a good year for Hapag-Lloyd with solid results. We have grown our volumes and outperformed the market. Our Gemini network delivered 90% schedule reliability and customer satisfaction reached another record high.

Following the deaths of hundreds on cattle on the livestock carrier Spiridon II last year, Animal Welfare Foundation reports that Turkish importers are taking legal action against the livestock dealer.The Spiridon II was stranded off the Turkish coast for several weeks after a month-long voyage from Uruguay when the consignment of around 2,900 dairy cattle was rejected by local authorities. Court transcripts translated by Animal Welfare Foundation indicate that 58 cows died in transit to Turkey…

At first glance, the Iran war appears to be hitting oil and gas with equal force, as missiles, drone strikes and shipping disruptions choke flows through the Strait of Hormuz.But beneath that surface symmetry lies a critical imbalance. The global gas supply chain has fewer rerouting options and less storage capacity than the oil market - making the fallout for gas consumers considerably more acute.Key gas infrastructure - liquefaction plants in particular - is more complex and expensive to build and repair than the oil equivalent.

Two tankers bound for India sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran’s power plants unless Tehran drops threats that have effectively closed the Gulf.Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have seen exports blocked since the war in Iran began on February 28 and Tehran launched attacks on ships and threatened any passing through the Gulf’s southern strait.The two India-flagged tankers were carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used mostly for cooking in India.

Bahrain has put forward a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorise countries to use "all necessary means" - diplomatic language for force - to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a text seen by Reuters on Monday.Diplomats said the draft text was backed by other Gulf Arab states and the United States, although they said it was unlikely to succeed.The move underscores mounting concern in the region that Iran could continue to threaten the Strait of Hormuz…

A tanker carrying fuel originally bound for Cuba on Friday changed its destination to Trinidad and Tobago, according to LSEG ship-tracking data, a blow for the island amid a severe fuel scarcity that has triggered power blackouts.The Hong Kong-flagged vessel Sea Horse loaded a diesel cargo earlier this year through a ship-to-ship transfer in the Mediterranean before setting sail to the Caribbean.The Russian-origin cargo was bound for Cuba, according to several maritime intelligence firms…

Asian refiners are increasingly sending medium-sized crude cargoes from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia through the Panama Canal as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupts trade flows, raises shipping costs and forces Asian refiners to hunt for alternative supplies.The use of medium-sized tankers that typically cost more per barrel to transport crude, coupled with Asian companies' willingness to pay additional fees to move oil through the Panama Canal, underscores their urgent need…

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) reports that February 2026 total container volume (international and domestic) reached 207,725 TEUs, down 19.4% compared to February 2025, when shippers were frontloading cargo ahead of expected tariffs.While full imports decreased 29.5%, full exports were up 4.9%. YTD volumes at 435,890 TEUs are down 16.6%, with full imports declining 22.6% and full exports increasing 2.2%.Alongside terminal operator partner SSA Terminals, the NWSA has celebrated…

Iran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a major escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war that sent oil prices shooting higher, and retaliated by vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf, firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia.Qatar's state oil giant QatarEnergy reported "extensive damage" after the Ras Laffan Industrial City, an energy-industry hub, was hit by Iranian missiles. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted…

Major US maritime organizations have issued statements voicing their concern over the Trump Administration’s decision to issue a sweeping 60-day waiver of the Jones Act.Under the Jones Act, goods shipped between U.S. ports must be carried on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and mostly U.S.-owned. A coalition of U.S. maritime labor organizations, including the American Maritime Officers; American Radio Association; International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots…

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act shipping law, temporarily allowing foreign-flagged vessels to move fuel, fertilizer and other goods between U.S. ports as soaring energy and agricultural prices strain supply chains amid the ongoing conflict in and around Iran.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the waiver represents "another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury."The waiver…

Oil loading at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah was at least partly halted after a third attack in four days caused a fire at the export terminal, while operations at the Shah gas field remained suspended after an earlier attack.The cascading disruptions threaten to completely sever the OPEC producer's remaining crude export outlet from global markets, potentially deepening a crisis that has sent energy prices surging.The UAE's other export hubs are located within the Gulf…

"During the first 11 weeks of 2026, bauxite shipments have surged 16% y/y, driven by strong Chinese demand for Guinean cargoes. Guinean bauxite has remained highly competitive, accounting for 79% of shipments and pushing non-Guinean bauxite shipments down 3% y/y. Bauxite has been one of the fastest growing dry bulk commodities, growing 10% on average between 2021 and 2025,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Rising bauxite shipments are driven by China’s need…

Cargo volumes continued strong at Port Houston in February, up 4% with 4,380,996 short tons handled across the Port’s eight public terminals. That brings the year-to-date total to 8,927,585 short tons, a 5% increase year-to-date.Container activity remained flat this month, with Port Houston handling 326,799 TEUs in February, bringing year-to-date container volumes to 696,833 TEUs, a 2% increase compared with the same period last year. In the first two months of the year, loaded exports increased 5%…

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has authorized an immediate 13% increase in exports at Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG Terminal in Louisiana.The authorization allows additional exports of up to 0.45 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. natural gas as LNG to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries from the Plaquemines LNG Terminal.Plaquemines LNG is now authorized to immediately export a total of 3.85 Bcf/d to both FTA and non-FTA countries.“At a time when Iran and its terrorist proxies attempt to disrupt the global energy supply…

In separate ad hoc meetings of the Gas Coordination Group and the Oil Coordination Group held on March 12, the Commission and EU countries assessed the situation concerning the EU’s gas and oil security of supply in view of the continued disruptions in the Middle East. During the exchange, EU countries confirmed that they do not observe any security of supply risks at the moment. Oil stocks remain at a high level, gas storage filling levels in the EU remain stable.EU countries…

U.S. officials responding to economic uncertainty over high oil prices predicted on Sunday that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran would end within weeks and that a drop in energy costs would follow, despite Iran's assertion that it remains "stable and strong" and ready to defend itself.U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more strikes on Iran's main oil export hub Kharg Island over the weekend and said he was not ready to reach a deal to end the war which has shut off the vital Strait of Hormuz and shaken up global energy markets.Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate…

For Aimee Andres, the nation’s inland rivers are not an abstract transportation network or a policy talking point. They are personal. Growing up, she spent her formative years around ports, terminals and railroads, watching firsthand how freight moved and how quietly essential inland infrastructure is to the country’s economic engine. That upbringing ultimately led her to a role she has now held for more than a decade: Executive Director of Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals (IRPT).

Explosive-laden Iranian boats appear to have attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters, setting them ablaze and killing one crew member on Wednesday, after projectiles struck four vessels in Gulf waters, said port, maritime security and risk firms.The latest attacks on ships linked to the U.S. and Europe mark an escalation in the conflict between Iran and U.S.-Israeli forces, raising the number of ships struck in the region since fighting began to at least 16.Shipping in the Gulf and along the narrow Strait of Hormuz…

Insurance giant Chubb will be the lead partner on the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation's $20 billion Maritime Reinsurance Plan aimed at resuming commercial shipping in the Gulf, the agency said on Wednesday.The U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has widened sharply in recent days and paralyzed shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major global chokepoint in the Gulf.Iran said the world should be prepared for oil to hit $200 a barrel as its forces attacked merchant ships on Wednesday in the blockaded Gulf. Meanwhile, U.S.

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were subjected to unidentified attacks inside territorial waters, causing them to catch fire, Iraq's director general of the General Company for Ports Farhan al-Fartousi told Reuters on Wednesday.Iraq evacuated the 25 crew members from the two vessels and fire is still ablaze on both ships, he added.This follows news that three vessels had been hit by unknown projectiles, with one of the strikes leading to a fire onboard a ship which forced most of its crew to evacuate it.Meanwhile…

"Despite increasing trade policy uncertainty and falling freight rates, the container ship order book has continued to expand. It now totals more than 1,350 ships with a combined capacity of 11.8m TEU,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.In 2025, global average container freight rates fell an estimated 13% year-on-year while US import tariff increases raised concerns about increasing trade protectionism. Despite this, global container volumes grew 4.7% year-on-year…