ocean container shipping

Container shipping rates spike as Red Sea crisis draws first blood

chart of spot rate indexes

Maersk, the world’s second-largest ocean carrier, gambled that a U.S.-led military force, Operation Prosperity Guardian, would allow safe passage through the Red Sea. That gamble has failed.

On Tuesday, Maersk said it will suspend Red Sea transits indefinitely and reroute ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. The decision followed attacks on the container ship Maersk Hangzhou, which was struck by a Houthi rebel missile on Saturday and threatened by four Houthi boats on Sunday.

Armed guards on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-shipping-rates-spike-as-red-sea-crisis-draws-first-blood

Shipping shares outpaced S&P 500 amid 2023’s rising stock market

chart of shipping stocks

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As 2023 draws to a close, the oft-predicted recession is still nowhere in sight and the S&P 500...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shipping-shares-outpaced-sp-500-amid-2023s-rising-stock-market

How safe is Red Sea? Different shipping lines have different answers

chart of Zim share price and effect of Red Sea diversions

The security situation in the Red Sea continues to drive shipping stock prices both up and down. Longer voyage distances due to detours around the Cape of Good Hope reduce effective capacity, a positive for freight rates, and thus share pricing. Conversely, if fewer ships divert, fleet capacity is preserved and stocks fall.

The bullish stock thesis going into the Christmas break was that all container lines would continue to divert vessels due to concerns over crew safety, regardless of Operation...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-safe-is-red-sea-different-shipping-lines-have-different-answers

Top ocean shipping stories of 2023: War, drought and detours

Ocean shipping routes are always in flux, but 2023 took it to a whole new level.

Trade routes were blocked or impeded by geopolitics, labor and weather: sanctions on Russia, U.S.-China tensions, dockworker union unrest, drought-driven cuts at the Panama Canal, and attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Ocean trade detoured around each obstacle. When vessels divert in large numbers, it makes headlines, but that flexibility is one of ocean shipping’s greatest strengths. Ship diversions, as the software...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-ocean-shipping-stories-of-2023-war-drought-and-detours

US-led forces in Red Sea will be defensive ‘highway patrol’

chart showing spot rate rise since Red Sea attacks

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The longer container lines detour from the Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope, the more vessel...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-led-forces-in-red-sea-will-be-defensive-highway-patrol

Red Sea fallout much greater for containers than tankers, bulkers

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Tuesday’s announcement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a joint military operation to protect...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/red-sea-fallout-much-greater-for-containers-than-tankers-bulkers

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

Why attacks on container ships caused container stocks to jump

chart of container spot rates

Risks to container ships and their crews are escalating by the day in the Red Sea — and with that rising danger comes the prospect of higher shipping rates.

Amid Friday’s attacks and growing evidence of route delays and diversions, the share price of ocean carrier Zim (NYSE: ZIM) spiked 18% in more than quadruple average trading volume. Shares of Hapag-Lloyd surged 16%. Maersk’s stock closed up 8%.

It’s yet another example of how bad things — wars, viruses, weather disasters — can equate to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/why-attacks-on-container-ships-caused-container-stocks-to-jump

Panama Canal transits plunge as larger ships are turned away

The official Panama Canal transit numbers for November are out — and they’re ugly. November could be the tip of the iceberg. Reservation slots are being slashed further this month and in January.

The total number of transits declined 22% in November versus October, according to just-released data from the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). And for the first time since the drought began, the numbers are not just falling at the older, smaller Panamax locks. They’re also declining sharply at the larger...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/panama-canal-transits-plunge-as-larger-ships-are-turned-away

Container shipping outlook 2024: Rising risk of delays, disruptions

The supply chain crisis is long over, but America’s importers still have a lot to keep them up at night as they plan for 2024.  

Two key container shipping “chokepoints” — the Panama Canal and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea — are simultaneously under threat. Container-line financials are under severe pressure, forcing ever more vessel sailings to be canceled. The dockworkers union serving East and Gulf Coast ports is threatening to strike next October. While freight rates are low,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-shipping-outlook-2024-rising-risk-of-delays-disruptions

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