Container Shipping

Amid various supply chain issues, United States retail container ports are expected to see imports top the 2-million mark in May for the first time since October, according to the new edition of the Port Tracker report, which was issued today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.

FourKites and BuyCo are partnering up to enhance global shipping visibility, efficiency, and sustainability for major shippers.

The most severe U.S. bridge collision since the Tampa Skyway Bridge disaster in 1980 happened at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday near Baltimore where a 32,000-ton cargo ship Dali rammed a bridge over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, causing it to collapse. The collapse of the 47-year-old, 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge has brought ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore, an important East Coast trade hub, to a halt. The port said maritime traffic is suspended “until further notice.”

Global container shipping faces overcapacity, driving rates to unsustainable lows and prompting cost-cutting measures.

Supply chain professionals in the global container shipping industry expect more technology investment and positive growth in the market in 2024.

Two global shipping giants, A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, announced on Friday that they are pausing shipping in the Red Sea following continued attacks on commercial ships in the region.

41 U.S. ports will share in $653 million in new investment from the federal government, the Biden administration announced last week.

Jonathan Daniels, CEO and Port Director for Port Everglades, joins Michael Levans, Group Editorial Director of Peerless Media’s Supply Chain Group, in a discussion revolving around the port’s continued expansion and sustainability efforts.

Jonathan Daniels, CEO and Port Director for Port Everglades, joins Michael Levans, Group Editorial Director of Peerless Media’s Supply Chain Group, in a discussion revolving around the port’s continued expansion and sustainability efforts.

Low water levels have caused a backlog of container vessels at the Panama Canal, and that could impact the ability of businesses to restock inventories in time for the holiday shopping season.

The period from mid-2020 to the fourth quarter of 2022 was a high-water mark for the container shipping industry, and with it came unprecedented turmoil, disruption, and prosperity, and that period was, above all, a period of extremes: extreme rate rises, extreme container and labor shortages, extreme delays, extreme congestion, and extreme chaos for exporters and importers alike, this time it's different.

Going back to when the fee was initially rolled out on October 25, POLA and POLB said that the ports have seen a cumulative 62% decline in the amount of aging cargo on their docks, a tally which has trended up going back to the initial announcement of this fee.

Logistics Management (LM) Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan. Wan provided LM’s Berman with a wide overview of various efforts the Port of Oakland is focused on, including: port operations; the import and export outlook, emissions reductions efforts, and port labor, among others.

This follows a July 2021 inking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formalized the working relationship between the organizations and established a framework for partnership between the FMC and DOJ’s Antitrust Division that “enhances cooperation in the enforcement of antitrust and competition laws, including the Shipping Act…by facilitating information exchange between and among attorneys, economists, and technical experts,” according to DOJ and FMC.

This follows previous joint announcements by POLA and POLB, whom collectively account for roughly 40% of United States-bound import volumes, indicating that consideration of the fee would be pushed back until November 22 and subsequently November 29, December 6, and December 13.