Newsletter – February 13, 2023

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

China Say It Is Not Restricting Airlines From Selling Low Fares

simpleflying.com
It has been reported recently that the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of China’s State Council has imposed a low-price restriction on seven Chinese state-owned airlines under its jurisdiction, requiring these airlines to not sell tickets at a price lower than 40% of the full price on their major routes with larger market share. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Maersk files claim against Evergreen and Shoei Kisen over Ever Given grounding

splash247.com
Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk has filed a lawsuit against the owner and operator of the containership Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal for six days in 2021, seeking compensation for delays caused by the incident.
“We can confirm that Maersk has filed a claim against Evergreen, the ship’s owner and the vessel’s technical manager at the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court. The claim is related to the losses Maersk suffered during Ever Given’s blockage of the Suez Canal in March 2021,” a spokesperson told Splash. Read more here. 

Global liners enter familiar price war territory

splash247.com
Liner shipping has entered a price war, a race to the bottom that has characterised almost every cycle of this shipping sector for the last 50 years.
Analysts at Sea-Intelligence have suggested that the decision by the big global container carriers to not reduce capacity in line with the dropping demand registered over the past six months can only be explained by the fact the market participants have entered into a price war. Read more here.

Two boxships badly damaged in southern Vietnam

splash247.com
Two containerships were severely damaged early Saturday morning when they collided on the Long Tau river in southern Vietnam.
The 2021-built, 2,038 teu Wan Hai 288 came off worse in the incident with many containers also hit hard as the port bow of the vessel felt the full impact of the SITC-operated, 920 teu Resurgence. The smaller vessel’s bow was crunched in the collision. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

UK Rail Union RMT Rejects Settlement to End Strikes

bloomberg.com
The union behind frequent rail strikes across Britain since last summer has rejected another set of pay offers and threatened to stage more industrial action “for as long as it takes.”
The RMT said offers from Network Rail and train companies were “dreadful” and had been rejected following a wide consultation with local branches of the labour group. It represents more than 40,000 rail workers. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

ILWU Canada wants government to reject Port of Vancouver Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project

splash247.com
On January 23, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change Steven Guilbeault informed the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) that information it had provided satisfied a request for details regarding potential effects of the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project on fish and fish habitat, salinity and Indigenous people. The VFPA said in a press release that the project would now be able to move to the final stage of the federal environmental assessment process. Read more here.