Newsletter – January 12, 2024

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Freighter number four for MSC Air Cargo
aircargonews.net
MSC Cargo’s latest freighter has been delivered and will be put into action on the transpacific.
The newbuild Boeing 777F was this week delivered to lessor Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and is the last of four aircraft to be delivered for its long-term ACMI agreement with MSC. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

More Delayed Cargo Arrivals in Halifax This Week
thecoast.ca
What’s the one thing nearly two out of every three ships arriving in Halifax this week have in common? They’re running late. Of the 17 cargo ships, container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers that have berthed – or are still scheduled to berth – in Halifax before Sunday, 11 are behind schedule. And those delays vary anywhere from a day to nearly two-and-a-half weeks. Read more in an article from The Coast. Read more here.

Shippers Must Pay a Heavy Price for Capacity, as ‘Ships Are Filling Up’
theloadstar.com
The capacity crunch following carrier decisions to veto Red Sea routes will leave shippers with little choice but to pay premium rates, despite having long-term contracts.
Crowd-sourced freight rates platform Xeneta said the Red Sea shipping crisis would get worse before it got better, and shippers needed to “get their act together quickly” to secure capacity in the run-up to Chinese New Year next month.
In its latest analysis, Sea-Intelligence also warned that shippers exporting from Asia would have limited access to capacity in the coming weeks. Read more here (login required).

U.S., UK Strike Houthi Targets in Yemen in Response to Red Sea Attacks
globalnews.ca
The United States and Britain conducted a series of airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen Thursday night in a massive response to escalating attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed.
The move marks a dramatic escalation of a simmering regional conflict in the Middle East sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel last October and Israel’s responsive offensive on Gaza.
Multiple U.S. officials told the Associated Press and Reuters the airstrikes were targeting logistical hubs, air defence systems and weapons storage locations used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. More than a dozen targets were successfully hit, the officials said.
Read more here.

Shippers face ‘eye-watering’ rates and rollovers as carriers ‘cherry-pick’ cargo
theloadstar.com
Shippers are scrambling to bring forward orders in a bid to mitigate the impact of the longer transit times from Asia to Europe as vessels are re-routed around the Cape of Good Hope.
However, equipment in Asia is in extremely short supply, due to the delayed backhaul voyages, and container release is being restricted to large-volume ’VIP contracts’ or shippers prepared to pay a hefty premium. Read more here (login required).

West coast ports brace for new import surge – ‘but they can cope this time’
theloadstar.com
US west coast ports are bracing for a surge in imports, driven by the convergence of supply chain and geopolitical chaos – and there’s little sign of an imminent return to normal.
Factors include the resumption of inventory build-up, returning flows that had been diverted to other US gateways during last year’s labour contract negotiations, a knock-on effect from problems affecting transits through the Panama and Suez canals and concerns about potential disruption at east coast ports … Read more here (login required).