Cape of Good Hope

Chevron adds Port Elizabeth to marine lubricants supply network

With no speedy end in sight to the Red Sea crisis, more ships are taking the longer route around the Cape with South African ports seeing an uptick in activity. Against this backdrop, Chevron Corporations’ Chevron Marine Lubricants has extended its global supply capacity to include Port Elizabeth, South Africa, a multi-cargo port located on the western perimeter of Algoa Bay.

Chevron says that this expansion not only enhances the company’s ability to serve vessels taking the longer route to...

https://www.marinelog.com/news/chevron-adds-port-elizabeth-to-marine-lubricants-supply-network/

Extreme weather blocks vessel traffic around South Africa

Severe storm conditions off the coast of South Africa have temporarily halted vessel movements. The rough seas are exacerbating supply chain delays caused by diversions around the Red Sea to avoid Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping, according to logistics companies and commodity analysts.

Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics alerted customers on Wednesday that extreme weather conditions around the Cape of Good Hope have forced container lines to seek shelter from high winds and waves...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/extreme-weather-blocks-vessel-traffic-around-south-africa

Maersk sees Red Sea routings as still too risky

Maersk is to continue to avoid Red Sea routings of it its ships. In an update today, it said that it would continue to send ships via the Cape of Good Hope and around the Africa rather than through the Houthi-threatened Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb Strait. It noted that while it welcomed the EU ASPIDES security operation as a “very positive development to increase the safety in the region,” its internal analysis, as well as insight received from external sources, “still indicates that the risk...

https://www.marinelog.com/legal/safety-and-security/maersk-sees-red-sea-routings-as-still-too-risky/

Are ocean spot rates past their peak?

2023 was a challenging year for ocean carriers, especially those that have spot exposure. They have seen significant slashes to revenue and profitability. 

Zim Integrated Shipping (NYSE: ZIM), a carrier with more spot exposure than some of the other large ocean carriers, saw a 61% year-over-year reduction in third-quarter revenue, and earnings before interest and taxes fell by $1.77 billion to a loss of $213 million. The Freightos Baltic Daily Index from China to the North American west coast...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/have-ocean-spot-rates-passed-their-peak

Red Sea chaos should boost tanker and container shipping rates

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The number of shipping companies refusing to risk Red Sea transits is growing by the day. The waters...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/red-sea-chaos-could-boost-tanker-and-container-shipping-rates

Suez Congestion Aids Bunker Fuel Demands In Singapore

The Suez Canal logjam since the week starting March 21, caused by the Ever Given cargo vessel, could potentially increase bunker fuel demand in Singapore as more ships will likely divert around the Cape of Good Hope, making the city-port a feasible refueling destination, given the longer journey, reports S&P Global.

The blockage is no more

The Ever Given, an about 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units container ship chartered by Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, ran aground in the Suez Canal at about...

https://mfame.guru/suez-canal-blockage-may-help-increase-bunker-fuel-demand-in-singapore/

Everybody wants to talk — or laugh — about Suez Canal crisis

Everybody has an opinion — and social media allows for those opinions to be shared globally and instantly. In the case of the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal, there has been a flood of conjecture, lampoons and memes. (Yeah, we’ve seen the one with Austin Powers many times. Please don’t share it with us again.)

Apparently, the folks at the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) are seeing them as well. The SCA, of course, has its hands full trying to get the massive Ever Given, with a carrying capacity of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/everybody-wants-to-talk-or-laugh-about-suez-canal-crisis

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