Let’s face it, shippers and non-vessel-operating common carriers are wed to their liner carriers, for better or worse. The economics of the container shipping industry are such the carriers that are here today will be the ones there tomorrow for shippers and NVOs. Even during the depths of the recession several years ago, […]
The P3 Network carriers – Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM – have started sharing details of their proposed vessel-sharing agreement with U.S., European and Chinese regulatory authorities. The three carriers are Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, in terms of size among the world’s liner carrier fleets. They don’t make decisions […]
Shippers are a diverse group, and they can’t be expected to agree on everything. Still, we are surprised by the reception a proposal by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to require verification of container weights received from some shipper groups. In late September, the IMO Subcommittee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and […]
DP World says London Gateway’s proximity to population can reduce costs. London Gateway, DP World’s new terminal, is scheduled to start regular operations Nov. 7 when the Southern Africa Europe Container Shipping Service (SAECS) shifts its U.K. port call from Tilbury, which is just a few miles upriver on the Thames. (The terminal did have […]
Shippers urge early talks for U.S. West Coast longshore labor contract. Contract negotiations between employers and longshoremen on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts were protracted and fractious in 2012-2013, with importers and exporters watching nervously from the sidelines. Shippers are bracing themselves once again as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which represents […]
The time is now for American shippers, especially those bringing significant volumes of goods in containers through West Coast ports from Asia, to consider contingency plans if the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and their employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association should fail to negotiate a new labor contract before the existing one’s […]
Washington state senators introduce bill for a new maritime goods user fee. By Chris Dupin U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell said they will introduce legislation when the Senate returns in September to repeal the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) on imports and replace it with a new Maritime Goods Movement User Fee that would […]
As Thomas Edison is to the light bulb, Henry Ford to automobile manufacturing, Fred Smith to express shipping, and Jeffrey Straubel to electric cars, Jeff Bezos’ lasting impact may be supply chain innovation. The media-shy Bezos has always had an interest in the way things work and how to make them better. His […]
Liner carriers spanning the east-west container trades may be desperately pressing for rate increases to make up for financial losses, but indications are that industry resolve is as strong as a house of cards. Since July 1, this shift upward in prices for container transport, especially on the spot market, has been witnessed […]
At first glance, the proposed P3 Network of Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co., and CMA CGM — the three largest container carriers in the world — may better stand for the “Powerful 3,” conjuring thoughts of cartels and monopolies in the minds of shippers. Indeed the operations agreement would initially provide 255 ships in […]
Remember back to 1996 when Maersk introduced the 6,400-TEU Regina Maersk to the Europe-Asia trade? Then the vessel was considered the giant of the sea, unable to fit through the Panama Canal and barely able to enter fully laden in many U.S. East Coast ports due to its hull depth. Since renamed the […]
Just when you think it couldn’t happen — not in this day in age when communications are instant and regulatory oversight abounds — somewhere along the supply chain someone falters and you pay a hefty price. The risks of trading globally have always been huge — that’s why we have legal instruments like […]
Ports, terminals prepare for challenges from bigger ships, expanding alliances. By Chris Dupin Ports and terminals in the United States and worldwide will have to accommodate growing numbers of larger containerships in the years ahead. Later this year, Maersk is expected to put the first of 18,000-TEU “Triple E” ships into service in […]
Thanks for bringing the important topic of the Trendset freight payment matter to the shipper community’s attention. In my 30-plus years in the business, I have never quite understood why anyone would want to make payment arrangements like these via a third party if it is not a bank. For example, we don’t […]
The news in early April that freight payment and audit services provider Trendset was beset by internal embezzlement and fraud has struck a nerve among shippers on how best to securely manage their transportation freight bills. “The circumstances warrant a re-examination of the kinds of protections and safeguards shippers should expect when contracting […]
The requirement under the Jones Act that ships moving cargo between two U.S. points be built and registered in the United States and crewed by Americans has attracted attention from everyone from television stock-picker Jim Cramer to groups such as American’s for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation. American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a […]
Since the forced budget cuts took effect March 1, federal agencies in charge of overseeing trade into and out of the United States have had to make due with less. To deal with the budget cuts, U.S. Customs, the country’s primary border agency, has essentially implemented plans for how it would operate in […]
What this past year has taught the shipping industry is just how powerful unionized dock labor on both coasts has become in the United States and how much of the country’s economy it holds in a tight grip. These unions — namely the International Longshoremen’s Association on the East and Gulf coasts and […]
Forget the Great Wall of China and mighty Amazon River, NASA has posted an image on its Global Climate Change Website that shows global shipping routes can be seen from space because of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by ships traveling along them. “Just how much shipping contributes to overall NOx emissions remains […]
Proximity to West Florida port is key attraction for LNG equipment maker. By Chris Dupin The natural gas industry in the United States is booming and dozens of shipping terminals that were once looking at re-gasifying liquefied natural gas arriving on tankers are now revising their plans and converting those facilities into terminals that instead […]
