Newsletter – April 9, 2024

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

MSC faces $63m penalty in US regulatory dispute 
splash247.com
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is looking at a potential $63m fine in the US for alleged violations of the Shipping Act, encompassing thousands of contested charges directed at various clients.
The US Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance has accused the world’s largest liner of charging excessive late fees on non-operating reefers and billing companies that were not originally part of the contractual agreement. Read more here.

Aggressive fleet builders HMM and Zim overtake Yang Ming in liner ranking
theloadstar.com
Yang Ming’s conservative containership fleet expansion has seen the Taiwanese operator slip down the liner ranks.
In 2020, at the start of the Covid-fuelled boom, Yang Ming was the eighth-largest box line. Now it is overshadowed by peers that embarked on aggressive programmes of newbuilding orders and second-hand buys, and is ranked 10th. Read more here (login reqiured).

Red Sea update: More ships attacked as Houthis claim danger area ‘expanding’
theloadstar.com
The past week has seen an increase in attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and a Houthi spokesperson has sparked fears of the ‘danger area’ expanding into the Arabian Sea.
Eight consecutive days of attack-free shipping in the Red Sea, between 23 March and 1 April, marked the longest quiet streak since December, when containerships began diverting around the Cape of Good Hope. Read more here (login required).

FMC fears glut of container fee disputes after Baltimore bridge collapse
freightwaves.com
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are bracing for disputes over container fees caused by routing cancellations in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
Shortly after the collapse early on March 26 that closed the Port of Baltimore, MSC, the world’s largest ocean carrier, advised customers that containers en route to the port would be diverted for unloading at alternate U.S. East Coast ports, and that the carriage contract would be declared terminated at the alternate port instead of at an inland destination via truck or rail. Read more here.

GROUND FREIGHT UPDATES

Fuel Costs Show Why Trucking Market Is So Challenging for Providers
freightwaves.com
Retail diesel fuel costs are up 33% versus April 2019, while the National Truckload Index that measures all-in spot rates shows an increase of only 16% over the same time. The implication is that carriers are in a far worse position on the spot market than they were in 2019 as they are unable to fully pass along operating costs.
Fuel is just one of many trucking operating cost inputs that have inflated dramatically over the past five years, but it is one of the largest measurable costs that are relatively homogenous across the national carrier base. It is also a glaring example of how desperate the truckload spot market has become. Read more here.