Global Ocean Freight News

Spiking ocean shipping rates, vessel backups at seaports and empty container shortages - issues that wreaked havoc on global trade during the COVID pandemic supply-chain crisis - are back as the industry enters its busy season."There is a cocktail of uncertainty and disruption across global ocean freight supply chains," said Peter Sand, chief analyst at pricing platform Xeneta."It is the speed and magnitude of this recent (rate) spike that has taken the market by surprise," he said.On Friday…

Ocean freight container shipping spot rates are set to exceed the level seen at the height of the Red Sea crisis when the latest round of increases hit the market on June 1, according to the latest data released by Xeneta.Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst, said: “The ocean freight container shipping market has seen rapid and dramatic increases during May and that is set to continue with further growth in spot rates.“On 1 June, spot rates will reach a level we haven’t seen since…

Conflict in the Red Sea has brought massive carbon emissions increases in ocean freight container shipping, according to data just released by Xeneta.The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions per ton of cargo transported across the world’s top 13 trades, hit 107.4 points in Q1 2024 - the highest it has been since the index began in Q1 2018.For containers being shipped via ocean from the Far East to Mediterranean, the CEI reveals carbon emissions increased by 63% in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023.

Global port congestion is set to continue until at least early 2023 and keep spot freight rates elevated, logistics executives said on Wednesday, urging charterers to switch to long-term contracts to manage shipping costs.The COVID-19 outbreak has lengthened ship delivery times since 2020, pushing up freight costs, while the Russia-Ukraine conflict and lockdowns in Shanghai have added to supply chain disruptions this year."We believe the current congestions, not only the ports but also the landside infrastructure…

Xeneta, the leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform, is launching a product offering that aims to transform the way shippers, freight forwarders and carriers conduct freight rate negotiations. The Oslo headquartered firm has created a new offering, Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI) that allows all parties to set rates at transparent, efficient and fair prices that directly follow market fluctuations. This ensures all stakeholders get the right price for their products and services, relationships are improved and complex, time-consuming negotiations become efficient. “After several years working closely with cargo buyers and sellers…

Agility Logistics, a leading global logistics provider, has signed an agreement with Maersk Line, to cut CO2 emissions by 15% per container transported for Agility shipments by 2020. The agreement is part of Maersk’s Carbon Pact Challenge, an initiative under which Maersk Line and its key customers work together to drive down harmful emissions and reduce the environmental impact of container shipping. As part of the agreement, Agility and Maersk will look for ways to cut emissions by shipping cargo on more fuel efficient ships, optimizing shipping routes, and taking other alternative steps to reduce CO2 emissions such as investigating how to integrate CO2 emission indicators into the regular business information flow and procurement of ocean shipping.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Norton Lilly International announced that their steamship agency joint venture, Agri Port Services LLC, has acquired Brazilian port and shipping agency Blue Ocean Agencia Maritima Ltda. ADM was previously a part owner in Blue Ocean. Blue Ocean services oceangoing vessels at ports throughout Brazil and maintains offices in the strategic ports of Santos and Paranagua. The company serves as a shipping agent for both inbound and outbound vessels, coordinating vessel clearance, loading/discharging operations, vessel logistics and support, vessel resupply, and cargo and customs documentation. “ADM’s ability to offer logistics services and expertise throughout the value chain is one of the things that sets us apart…

Dependable Global Express, Inc. (DGX), a global ocean freight forwarder and NVOCC (non-vessel operating common carrier), and the only neutral freight consolidator serving Central and South America from the U.S. An every other week LCL (less-than-container load) consolidation service from Los Angeles to Buenaventura, Colombia. Antonio Bellido, DGX's Trade Lane Manager for Latin America indicated, "These new service offerings represent another step in expanding DGX’s West Coast Central and South America service network.

Dependable Global Express, Inc. (DGX), a global ocean freight forwarder, announces the appointment of Lily Sagherian as its Business Development Manager for DGX's new Middle East Trade Lane service. Ms. Sagherian is fluent in four languages including Arabic and Armenian, and has been in the freight forwarding industry 25 years. In her last position, she was a Trade Lane negotiator and sales person where she managed three trade lanes. DGX recently merged specific operational capabilities from Novo Express which increased its Middle East export shipping activities. DGX assumed the ocean business and Dependable AirCargo Express (DAX) took over the airfreight portion of Novo's business. DGX and DAX are part of The Dependable Companies Group. dgxglobal.com

Staff from four leading international forwarders have voted Hapag-Lloyd the best shipping line for 2012. Kühne + Nagel (“Best Carrier Award”) and DB Schenker (“Ocean Carrier of the Year”), now Hellmann Worldwide Logistics (“Global Carrier Award”) and Panalpina (“Global Ocean Freight Carrier Survey”) have awarded Hapag-Lloyd highest grades for quality and customer service. “These awards make us especially proud as they come from our customers’ staff, the people who work daily with Hapag-Lloyd worldwide: Those who can really judge and value the high quality of our services,” says Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd. More and more major shippers are having staff evaluate their most important suppliers using satisfaction questionnaires.

As part of a US$50-million contract Geodis Wilson will manage the transport of 16 lock gates, each weighing more than 4,000 tons, for Panama Canal expansion project. An initial vessel, carrying four of the gates will depart from Italy in February 2013 and will be followed by a further three shipments throughout the year. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2013. The new gates are part of the large-scale expansion plan by the Panama Canal Authority that is designed to double the capacity of the Panama Canal by 2014.

INTTRA announce major enhancements to OceanSchedules, the ocean shipping industry’s comprehensive multi-carrier scheduling solution. With this release, INTTRA customers can now access and evaluate over 7 million global vessel schedules from 31 carriers with a new option for integrating OceanSchedules within existing applications and support for additional data formats for customers who want to load data directly into their systems. It now offers companies of any size the widest array of options for accessing, evaluating and choosing the voyage that best meets their needs from a single source. Included in this release of OceanSchedules is a new delivery format that supports the requirements of SAP’s Transportation Management Solution.