Even before an enormous container ship rammed a bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday, sending the span hurtling into the Patapsco River, and halting cargo traffic at a major U.S. port, there was ample reason to worry about the troubles dogging the global supply chain. Between swirling geopolitical winds, the variables of … Read more
The shipping container is a logistics marvel that can affordably move thousands of items from hundreds of different companies all around the globe. If there is a slowdown in shipping-container circulation, there could be massive supply chain bottlenecks. “The skill involved in containerization is moving that container from point A to point B and getting … Read more
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the global supply chain and US coastal infrastructure collided in the worst possible way. An enormous container ship, the Dali, slammed into a support of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, crumpling its central span into the Patapsco River and cutting off the city’s port from the … Read more
March and April are critical months for ocean carriers looking to ink annual freight contracts with shippers, including the world’s biggest retailers, but this year contract season is turning into a waiting game. The $2,500 spread between spot market rates and long-term freight contract rates for Asia to U.S. West Coast containers has reached its … Read more
The Toronto Express container ship, operated by Hapag-Lloyd AG at the Port of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Maria Feck | Bloomberg | Getty Images Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier, tells CNBC he has an improved view on trade for the rest of 2024. Conversations … Read more
The potential for a strike by the largest union of maritime workers in North America, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is beginning to rise on the list of concerns among logistics decision-makers and advisors in a year already fraught with a multitude of trade uncertainties. Red Sea diversions and Panama Canal drought restrictions are already influencing … Read more
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The transports industry remains under a cloud of uncertainty. The Covid boom fueled a major stock rally, but it was followed by a freight recession, overcapacity in ocean shipping and trucking, and now a sector rebound in a strong economy. All the companies involved in the movement of global … Read more
The battle for the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea has expanded with the entrance of a European Commission naval defense effort in the past week, and more U.S. and allied strikes against Houthi land targets over the weekend, but to date, combined military efforts have not deterred rebel attacks. On Saturday evening, United … Read more
Around us at Zephyros, kids and silverware clamor and motorbikes cough, but Marinaâs voice is barely above a whisper. âWhen the hippopotamuses quarrel, then the frogs get stepped on,â she says of geopolitical conflicts, including the war in Ukraine. Sheâs sphinxlike, at times. Iâm starting to think she may have the rare quality that Fitzgeraldâs … Read more
PUNTLAND, SOMALIA – JANUARY 29: Puntland Maritime Police Forces (PMPF) are patrolling against the recently increasing pirate attacks off the coast in Puntland, Somalia on January 29, 2024. (Photo by Abuukar Mohamed Muhidin/Anadolu via Getty Images) Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Somali pirates are back on the attack, with piracy around the Horn of … Read more
