Newsletter – July 4, 2023

No contract progress as Canada port strike enters fourth day 

splash247.com
There is still minimal congestion to report at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert where unionised dockworkers are preparing for a fourth day of strikes with little sign of negotiations with employers making any progress.
Canada’s branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) started the strike at the two west coast ports on Saturday. Read more here 

Schedule Reliability Reaches Three-Year High with Blank Sailings Down

maritime-executive.com
Schedule reliability for the global container shipping industry continues its rebound from the depths of the delays in 2021 and 2022 to reach a nearly three-year high in May 2023. Analytics firm Sea-Intelligence is highlighting the continued progress in its monthly reporting while carriers have also increased capacity back into the markets reducing the number of sailings blanked from their schedules. Read more here

Mærsk contra mundum

theloadstar.com
Breaking news that AP Møller-Mærsk (APMM) unleashed a ‘shock and awe’ rate hike on the Asia-North Europe trade came out of the blue yesterday, 3 July.
Disconcerting?
Just a bit, excusez-moi.
Counterintuitively, however, it makes a lot of sense to try and lead the container shipping market with a pricing strategy in places, aimed at protecting a sinking bottom line. Read more here (loing required).

Volvo Cars switches to renewable fuels for container shipping

splash247.com
Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has decided to transport material for the production of its vehicles across the world’s oceans mostly on container ships using renewable fuels.
Volvo Cars said that it transports tens of thousands of containers of production material each year and that the switch would achieve an immediate reduction in fossil CO2 emissions from intercontinental ocean freight by 55,000 tonnes over a year. Read more here

Container newbuild avalanche sets new records 

splash247.com
New containership deliveries in June reached 277,873 teu, setting a new record for the highest level of new vessel capacity delivered in a single month, according to data from Asia-based box watchers Linerlytica.
The total number of new ships delivered in the first six months of the year has reached 148 units for 975,344 teu with over 1.2m teu still due in the second half of the year even after provisions for delivery slippage, Linerlytica has warned. Read more here

Hapag-Lloyd faces US shipper complaint 

splash247.com
Fruit juice importer and broker Rahal International has filed a complaint with the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) against Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd over unreasonable charging practices, adding to an abundance of grievances filed versus ocean carriers. Read more here