Shipping

After consultation with multiple supply chain stakeholders and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles announced bold new measures to improve freight movement and reduce delays through the ports as they continue to experience record volumes. These measures will enhance the ports’ landside operations to help meet the unprecedented growth in cargo volume moving through the San Pedro Bay.

The peak shipping season started with a roar and lifted the Port of Long Beach to its strongest August on record.

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 807,704 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container cargo last month, an 11.3% increase compared to August 2020. Imports were up 11.7% to 407,426 TEUs and exports decreased 5.3% to 119,485 TEUs. Empty containers moved through the Port rose 19.7% to 280,794 TEUs.

Mass container shortage has disrupted international supply chains and seen the cost of freight and shipping increase exponentially across all sectors.

While it may be easy to blame this single factor for an increase in freight cost, many more factors have contributed to the inflated prices we are currently seeing across the sector.

So what are some of the other reasons that prices can't seem to slow down? 

Berthing delay skyrockets as Ningbo, the 3rd largest ports in the world suspends container terminal operations due to a positive case of COVID-19.

Data provided by project44 confirms that a large volume of container ships are at anchor outside Ningbo-Zhoushan waiting for berth space.

The wreckage of the X-Press Pearl may be resting in part at the bottom of the sea peacefully, but the issues surrounding the burning and eventual sinking of the ship has still not come to an end.

There are more than 55,000 merchant ships plying global trade around the world and these ships include General Cargo, Bulk and Break Bulk ships, Container ships, Chemical, Oil and LNG Tankers, Passenger, and various other types of ships.

While these are types of ships, these ships could be operating on two types of services – Liner and Tramp services.

In this article, we look at a liner service as it applies to container shipping.

Cargo that must be loaded, maintained and or carried at a particular temperature for it to arrive its destination without deterioration is classified under refrigerated cargoes.

This article looks at how cargo survey for refrigerated and frozen cargoes works.

The Federal Maritime Commission has established a new audit program and dedicated audit team to assess carrier compliance with the Agency’s rule on detention and demurrage as well as to provide additional information beneficial to the regular monitoring of the marketplace for ocean cargo services.

The sweet taste of freedom was probably being experienced by all concerned with the Ever Given as it was released by Suez Canal authorities on the 7th of July – a good 106 days after becoming one of the most talked about ships in the world, by even those who were not interested or knew about the business of shipping..

Further to the below, the update as of the 12th July is that the Ever Given is showing that it is sailing en route to Rotterdam which was its original destination before passing through and getting stuck in the Suez Canal..

Port Congestion, equipment and space capacity crunch are impacting businesses with supply chains and consumers heavily impacted..

In a webinar, Rachel Premack, Senior Investigations Reporter at Business Insider, Michael J Gordon, Senior FMC Advisor (retd), and Adam Compain, SVP of Global Growth at project44 discuss how rising freight prices have set off a domino effect, manifesting across supply chains through port congestion, drayage holdups, dropping inventories, inflation and lengthening lead times..

They reference insights from a market survey of over 200 supply chain professionals and talk through a possible timeline to a freight market cool down, when it can potentially happen and the circumstances that will lead us there..

The FMC set up Fact Finding 29 in March 2020 in response to many complaints raised with the FMC to investigate challenges to the freight delivery system in the USA and possible violations of the Shipping Act..

Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye was tasked by the FMC to carry out the investigation with the full authority under 46 C.F.R. §§ 502.281 to 502.291, to perform such duties as may be necessary in accordance with U.S. law and Commission regulations..

In her Executive Summary to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation in June, Commissioner Dye reported that four key key measures to improve efficient cargo movement in US Ports have been identified..

The Day of the Seafarer, held on 25 June every year, draws global attention to the contribution that seafarers make to world trade.

As the world slowly moves through the pandemic, it is more important than ever not only to acknowledge the efforts that seafarers have made to keeping the supply chain open despite extremely challenging conditions, but also to ensure that the future being built is one that is fair to them.

This is why IMO's 2021 Day of the Seafarer campaign has chosen the theme of "A Fair Future for Seafarers".

It has just been reported that a representative for the owners and insurers of the Ever Given has confirmed that they reached an agreement in principle in terms of a compensation dispute with the Suez Canal Authority.

It is understood that work is under way to finalise a signed settlement agreement as soon as possible and arrangements will be made for the release of the Ever Given once the formalities had been dealt with.

Blank sailing data tracked at major Shenzhen ports by project44 has shot up, spelling further cost increases and inventory shortages for businesses as they struggle to meet the demands of reopening economies. The Port of Yantian (YICT), a critical connection for factories and retailers across the globe, which handles 13 million TEUs per year, is at the epicenter of China’s latest COVID-19 quarantine efforts.

BIMCO has launched an initiative to raise awareness about the crucial role of shipping and its seafarers. Seafarers are keyworkers who make the world work and seafarers deserve our support. Help raise awareness outside the shipping industry by sharing these videos which reflect the struggle faced by seafarers on a daily basis.

As you may have read, the X-Press Pearl, a 1400+ TEU capacity, 2 month old feeder vessel operated by X-Press feeders on their Singapore/Middle East service is currently burning in the Indian Ocean close to the port of Colombo.

The fire which started on the 19th of May 2021 while waiting at anchorage, was subsequently brought under control with the help of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lankan Airforce which dropped fire suppressing powder on the vessel, but the fire started again followed by an explosion which is still burning.

Here is the latest update on the situation.

It's been a while since we wrote about the Ever Given, the main character in one of the most complicated stories in shipping history which ironically didn't involve any damage to the ship or containers on board..

No one knows though about the status of the cargoes on board - especially perishable cargo in reefer containers or cargoes with a shelf life still inside the containers on board or any hazardous cargoes that maybe stewing in the hot African sun..

Just in case you have forgotten what happened, here is a recap and also the current status..

The winds of change within the context of containerized shipping have been sweeping to say the least. In the pursuit of environmental sustainability, digitalization, operational and commercial efficiency, and collaborative practices the containerized fleet and the industries commercial practices have been radically modified over a significantly short period of time.

With gigantism being the most popular trend currently pursued by the world’s major carriers a new global context has concurrently begun to rear its head.

The emergence of colossal vessels along primary routes has led to the resultant cascade of maritime traffic along secondary and tertiary routes.

Thus, whilst the argument for economies of scale relative to container vessel sizes makes for a seemingly sensible commercial case, such developments have the potential to seriously impact ports and the entirety of logistics chain, including production.

This begs the question is bigger always better and what alternatives exist?

A project44 analysis of the schedules of various shipping lines indicates that cargo delays could last well into the summer with several blank sailings seen in the schedules.

With maxed-out vessels skipping more ports, project44 is warning shippers to adopt proactive supply chain strategies that anticipate delays.

“Rising Rollover Rates Show Worsening Maritime Supply Chain Delays”.. This is the gist of April’s container rollover statistics published by project44 the global leader in advanced visibility for shippers and logistics service providers.

The report and figures indicate that maritime supply chain woes are worsening, with little indication that carriers are addressing the industry’s serious capacity issues.