Containershipping News

Emirates Shipping Line (ESL) enters the US market with the launch of the Sun Chief Express (SCX).The Sun Chief Express (SCX) will directly connect Seattle, WA with Ho Chi Minh, and Shekou, while also providing wider coverage of Southeast Asia via these ports. ESL will leverage its intermodal solutions within the US market, to provide inland connectivity via Seattle to locations across the US including, but not limited to Portland, OR, St. Paul, MN, Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, Columbus, OH and Memphis, TN.This news follows ESL's recent expansion to Mexico.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) named the 13,900-TEU ONE Singapore, the sixth vessel in a series of 20 ammonia/methanol ready container vessels. The naming ceremony took place at the Hiroshima Shipyard of Imabari Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Japan, marking another milestone in ONE's fleet expansion program."Today's naming of ONE Singapore signifies further progress in our fleet expansion strategy," said Jeremy Nixon, CEO, ONE. "This vessel, carrying the name of our global headquarters city, symbolizes our strong connection to Singapore's vibrant maritime ecosystem.

Authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala are racing to contain an oil spill in the Arabian Sea after the Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA3 sank over the weekend, releasing fuel and more than 100 cargo containers into the water.The vessel was en route from Vizhinjam to Kochi when it capsized approximately 38 nautical miles off the Kerala coast on Saturday. All 24 crew members were safely rescued, according to local officials. The cause of the incident has not yet been disclosed.The Kerala chief minister’s office confirmed Sunday that the entire ship is now submerged.

Japan's Tsuneishi Shipbuilding said the Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc. - its shipbuidling factory in China -  has completed the first block loading for its first Methanol-Fueled 5,900-TEU Type Container Carrier earlier this month.The 5,900-EU type container carrier is the largest container carrier built by Tsuneishi Shipbuidling Group. This vessel has a maximum capacity of 5,915 20-foot-equivalent-unit containers in the hold and on deck, and up to 1,400 reefer containers can also be loaded in response to increased demand in recent years.

On April 17, NYK and the Hong Kong Police Force jointly conducted a counterterrorism drill aboard NYK's NYK Daniella, a 210-m, 2,664-TEU containershipThe drill lasted about an hour in Hong Kong's territorial waters. Based on the scenario of terrorists entering the vessel by boat, Hong Kong special forces searched and suppressed the terrorists, while all parties, including the crew and the ship-management company, worked together to verify response procedures.

U.S. container import volumes increased 4.7% year-on-year in February, but could cool in coming months as the U.S. trade war with China and other key trading partners takes hold, supply chain technology provider Descartes said on Monday.U.S. seaports handled more than 2.2 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the second highest February volume on record, fueled by a 7.9% rise in volume from China, Descartes said.Last year's robust import volume has flowed into 2025, fueled…

“At the end of 2024, the container ship order book was 8.3m TEU, a new record compared with the previous high of 7.8m TEU in early 2023,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.As 4.4m TEU were contracted during 2024, the second highest ever, the order book grew despite deliveries hitting a new record high of 2.9m TEU.“Making up 92% of the order book capacity, ships 8k TEU or larger dominate the order book. The largest segment, 12-17k TEU, makes up 46% of the order book capacity…

When talk turns to fuel transition in the maritime sector, the conversation usually starts with: ‘yes, change is happening, but the majority of the world fleet continues to operate as it always has; with diesel fuel’ and ends with ‘change is being driven by a handful of pioneers: the big companies.’Enter Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller - Mærsk, one of the biggest and most innovative companies operating ships globally today, and its world’s first large methanol-enabled container vessel dubbed Ane Mærsk…

HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) held a christening ceremony for two 7,700 TEU LNG dual-fuel (DF) container ships at its Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan last week, marking the company’s first LNG DF container ship construction.The event was attended by more than 100 guests, including Angeliki Frangou, Chairwoman of Navios Maritime Partners LP, Shunji Sasada, President of Navios, Kim Kyung-bae, President of HMM, Yoo Sang-cheol, CEO of HJSC, along with other officials. The two vessels…

The Panama Canal Authority could double in coming years the number of containers that move through the commercial waterway that links the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, the canal's chief told a maritime conference.The authority, which has an $8 billion investment plan, is putting in place a water conservation strategy following a severe drought that forced ships between late 2023 and early 2024 to take alternative routes between the United States and Asia.As part of that, it is encouraging shippers to consolidate cargoes so less water is used for vessels to pass…

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is accelerating the global deployment of smart containers, helping to advance visibility and transparency through the integration of Hoopo’s innovative hoopoSense Solar trackers.ZIM’s smart container solution enables end-to-end tracking, including the inland leg, giving customers full transparency into their shipments and a more accurate ETA, even after the containers exit terminals or depots enroute to their final destinations. The hoopoSense Solar tracker boasts a battery life of more than 12 years, sufficient to last a container’s lifecycle and eliminating the need for replacements. Each tracker is designed to deliver precise location data and features a built-in door-opening detection system with 99% accuracy.

Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election is has importers on edge, fearing another spike in ocean container shipping freight rates premised on President Trump's vow on blanket tariffs of up to 20% on all imports into the US and additional tariffs of 60% to 100% on goods from China.Data from Xeneta shows the last time that President Trump ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports during the trade war in 2018, ocean container shipping freight rates spiked more than 70%.

CMA CGM and Google announced a  partnership to accelerate the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across CMA CGM's operations globally.“By combining CMA CGM’s deep expertise in shipping and logistics with Google's AI tools and secure infrastructure we can help CMA CGM digitally transform its own operations and those of its customers," said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. "This partnership is a prime example of how AI can assist employees, improve outcomes for customers…

Unifeeder A/S and MPC Container Ships ASA (MPCC) announced a new collaboration to make joint investments into energy efficiency technology (EET), a partnership that will see the parties unite to increase decarbonization and efficiency in maritime transport.Under the agreement, Unifeeder and MPCC will jointly invest in efficiency-enhancing retrofits with advanced EET solutions. The investments will be shared between the charterer, Unifeeder, and MPCC. Subsequent cost savings resulting from these energy efficiency enhancements will also be shared between the two parties…

“In 2023, 2.3 million TEU of container ship capacity was delivered, beating the former all-time high by 37%. Year-to-date another record has been set as more than 1 million TEU has already been delivered during the first four months of the year, an increase of nearly 80% compared to the previous record,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.As ship recycling has so far only retired 19 smaller ships, the fleet has expanded by nearly 1 million TEU, a 3.5% increase compared to the beginning of the year.

Genoese group Ignazio Messina & Co.has been taken delivery of the container vessel Jolly Rosa. Flying the Italian flag and enrolled in the International Registry at the Genoa Port Authority, the ship measures 260 x 32m with a gross tonnage of 42,112 tonnes and a transport capacity of 4387 TEU containers, 360 of which are reefer. Under the command of Captain Simone Galli with a crew of 23 people, 13 of whom are Italian, 4 EU and 6 non-EU, she joins in the Messina fleet the Jolly Oro and the Jolly Argento which have been purchased and entered service for the group in recent months.

Pain in the containershipping sector is not uncommon in 2023, and Israel's ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM) is no exception, today reporting 2Q and six month results:Net loss for the second quarter was $213 million, negatively impacted by a non-cash after tax item of $51 million related to the redelivery of certain vessels.Operating loss (EBIT) for the second quarter was $168 million, compared to operating income of $1,764 million in the second quarter of 2022Revenues for the second quarter were $1…

The beleaguered carrier industry took another major hit in June, with the latest data from Xeneta’s Shipping Index (XSI) showing a decline of 9.4% in global long-term shipping rates. Following on the heels of a 27.5% collapse in May, and a 10.3% fall in April, contracted rates have now shed 47.2% of their value in the last three months alone, and 51.7% over the course of 2023.Xeneta’s data shows falls in the prices of valid long-term contracts across all key trading corridors…

As geopolitical upheaval continues, Peter Sand, Chief Analyst, Xeneta, explores how global trade patterns have (and will) evolve.Geopolitical unrest could have dramatic and long-term impacts on global trade patterns for all goods and commodities, as political alliances are essentially being ripped up and rewritten. Spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, changing trade patterns are emerging in the container shipping sector, said Xeneta’s Peter Sand, as the term of the day is “friendshoring”…

“Despite the collapse in freight rates, shipowners still have an appetite for new container ship orders and the order book has continued to grow. The record high order book of 7.54 million TEU will result in significant changes to the container fleet in the coming years,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.During the last 10 quarters, 8.61 million TEU has been contracted, matching the level contracted during the preceding 30 quarters. The order book has now increased for 10straight quarters…

Xeneta returns this week with a second ranking of carrier carbon emissions, this time focused on the Far East to U.S. West Coast Trade."Why are we doing this? We want to shine a light on the importance of green shipping and spotlight the progress of carriers,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst, touting the results as "Name & Fame." Results are based on the Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI).Name & Shame: Xeneta CEI Tool Highlights Best, Worst Enviro PerformersQ4'22…

Xeneta has taken the first step in a campaign to identify the carrier industry’s best and worst environmental performers across the world’s 13 leading shipping trades. With the help of the Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), a tool from Xeneta and Marine Benchmark, carriers have been assessed on the main Far East to South America East Coast container corridor. With first results out, Hamburg Süd is likely celebrating; Evergreen, likely not.According to the latest analysis, the CO2 emitted…

January proved to be a dramatic month for long-term ocean freight rates, with the latest data from the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI) showing the largest ever month-on-month declines. According to the XSI, average long-term contracted rates dropped by 13.3% in January,  the fifth month in a row of falling prices on the index. Xeneta warns there is little sign of change ahead in what looks set to be a challenging year for carriers.“Global demand has fallen away, congestion has eased…