Canadian National (CN) is trying to derail the planned marriage of Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Canadian Pacific (CP) by wooing KCS shareholders with a higher offer. At US$325 per share for the US rail company, CN’s offer values KCS at $33.7bn, beating the $29bn purchase price rival CP agreed last month. CN...
The main container ports in North Europe were eerily quiet at the weekend, due to the almost week-long blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given. But now, an armada of late-running ULCVs is enroute from the Mediterranean, providing an intense challenge for vessel operators to turn ships around as quickly as...
Air, sea-air and rail freight demand is expected to rise significantly on Asia-Europe lanes as shippers try to avoid the chaos from the blocking of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given. “Increased air freight demand is almost unavoidable,” said one European forwarder. “Even if the vessel was salvaged today there would...
Transport operators in Australia have warned of a coming “bloodbath” over spiralling fees levied by the country’s stevedores. In addition to rapidly escalating terminal access fees, previously known as infrastructure surcharges, a newly created “long-vehicle fee” by Patrick Terminals has been slammed as “a tax on productivity”. Introduced at Patrick’s Sydney and Brisbane...
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak caught industry offguard today, revealing eight winning bids for UK freeport status as he announced the Budget. East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe, Humber, Liverpool, Plymouth, Solent, Teesside and Thames were all awarded freeport status, amid expectations that the first one will be online by the end of the year. Mr...
Shipping lines have begun suspending cargo bookings into Myanmar. A nationwide general strike took place yesterday, with hundreds of thousands on the streets protesting against the military power-grab on 1 February. “The situation is becoming more and more tense,” according to Hapag-Lloyd. “Operationally, the terminals in Myanmar are close to full capacity, and feeder services,...
It didn’t take long for privately-owned Dachser, a German 3PL with about €5.5bn of annual revenues, to change direction in 2021 after recent changes in its executive team. “With [Bernhard] Simon gone [operationally], the man who didn’t need advice from anybody, Dachser readies for a new adventure,” one source said. Simon is...
A new superport is set to be created in north-west Europe after the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge announced today that they will formally merge. Talks between the municipal authorities of Antwerp and Bruges began in 2018 and unification will put the superport within touching distance of nearby rival, Europe’s largest container hub, Rotterdam. Last year, the two ports handled 13.8m (Antwerp, 12m teu, and...
Sources have indicated that ECU Worldwide is currently undergoing a cyber attack. The company has not officially confirmed the nature of the problem, but one staff member told The Loadstar that all the systems are down. “It’s global, and it’s been problematic for a couple of days. None of us can connect,”...
Extra loaders deployed by transpacific carriers to meet booming import demand have overwhelmed the US gateways of Los Angeles and Long Beach. According to a survey by Alphaliner, the capacity of the 27 ships berthed and 41 at anchorage at the San Pedro Bay ports stood at a massive 579,100 teu on Monday. The consultant calculated that the 41 ships...
