A “reduced appetite” for ordering ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) and carriers instead aspiring to become global logistics integrators could finally balance container capacity supply with demand, according to new analysis from Drewry. Indeed, at the end of last year Maersk’s chief executive, Soren Skou, told The Financial Times: “We for sure have to do some…

As we welcome in 2019, Drewry have shared their thoughts on the key issues and trends likely to affect the container ports and terminals sector in the year ahead. Demand: We will see a softening of the global container port demand growth rate, down from an estimated 4.7% in 2018 to just over 4% in…

Asia-Europe ocean carriers from have announced further hikes in their FAK rates this month after successfully pushing through 1 January spot rate increases. Alphaliner said rates on the route “remained firm in December, despite the resumption of the 2M’s AE2/Swan service”. Hapag-Lloyd said that on 16 January, “due to strong demand”, it was increasing its…

The prospect of unmanned container vessels serving global container supply chains has taken another step forward. Sea Machines Robotics, a US developer of autonomous vessels, announced it had raised $10m from venture capital funds. The investors were led by Accomplice VC and Eniac Ventures, but also include Toyota AI Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, NextGen VP, Geekdom Fund,…

IATA claims global aviation is on course for a “decade in the black”. However, the annual pace of growth in cargo is well below last year’s “exceptional” performance. Despite the slowdown, the association remains relatively positive about future growth, albeit it at a slower pace. “The expected 3.7% annual increase in cargo tonnage next year to 65.9m…

Vessel cascading has been an ever-present feature of container shipping since liner executives first understood the benefits of economies of scale and began the box ship capacity arms race. But over the next few years, there are likely to be only a few arenas where it will take place, according to Drewry Maritime Advisors’ director…

Container shipping company AP Moller – Maersk has unveiled plans to completely cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from its operations by 2050. In order to meet the goal, Maersk intends to have carbon neutral vessels commercially viable by 2030, as well as accelerate new innovations and adopt new technology. The company has called for a…

CMA CGM moved back into the black in the third quarter, and recorded a net profit of $49m for the nine-month period. However, in the third quarter, the French carrier was beaten to its ‘best in class’ financial performance ranking by Hapag-Lloyd which reported a stronger recovery. CMA CGM’s turnover during Q3 increased by 6.3% on the same period last year,…

The failure of the US and China to agree on trade at the weekend makes further tariffs on Chinese goods to the US seem increasingly likely. But while most economists agree that trade wars are ineffective and harmful, some players in the logistics industry are seeing opportunities – mostly in air freight, which typically benefits from chaos…

Remember to book your sea freight imports in time for Christmas! ? Please contact a member of our team as we have very competitive rates for this month – email [email protected] or call 02380 337778 We handle all types of cargo, including full container load (FCL), less container load (LCL) and NVOCC groupage shipments. We…