The vertical integration and modal mash-up continues. The Loadstar reveals today that a forwarder has started a shipping line and now a shipping line is looking at buying an airline. MSC has told the Italian government it wants to buy a stake in the new airline, ITA Airways, which began operations in...
Increased commercial power, diminished choice and competition, along with carrier exemption from competition regulations are distorting the container shipping market, according to the British International Freight Association (BIFA). Its director general, Robert Keen, is the latest in a list of shippers and their representatives to raise competition concerns with regulatory authorities following...
MSC’s surprise last-minute €5.7bn bid to acquire Bolloré Africa Logistics from under the noses of its ocean carrier rivals represents a change of direction for the Aponte family business. Hitherto, MSC has relied on organic growth to rise to the top of the container line rankings, and has shied away from large-scale...
PRESS RELEASE BOLLORÉ HAS RECEIVED AN OFFER FROM MSC FOR THE PURCHASE OF BOLLORÉ AFRICA LOGISTICS. BOLLORÉ HAS GRANTED AN EXCLUSIVITY TO THE OFFEROR The Bolloré Group announces that it has received an offer from the MSC Group, a major player in container transport and logistics, to acquire 100% of Bolloré Africa Logistics, comprising all of the...
Ocean carriers face ‘Hobson’s choice’ on the containership charter market: agreeing to owners’ hugely inflated daily hire rates or risking losing the vessel to a competitor. Hapag-Lloyd has just agreed a three-month charter commencing in January of the 4,253 teu Synergy Oakland for an eye-watering $130,000 a day from Greek non-operating owner...
Following huge hikes in FAK rates over the past 18 months, as oil prices surge, shippers now face significant increases in bunker surcharges . The price of Rotterdam-sourced low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) jumped yesterday by $14.50 per tonne, to $573.50, with the cost of heavy fuel oil (HFO) increasing by $13, to...
Ocean carriers enjoyed their best quarter in container shipping history in the final three months of 2020, but are expected to have significantly topped that record in the first quarter of this year. According to New York-based Blue Alpha Capital, fourth-quarter net earnings for the 11 carriers that report their financials came...
The 13,092 teu Maersk Eindhoven (pictured) lost “several hundred containers overboard” as it suffered an engine blackout in bad weather yesterday, near Japan, en route from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles. This latest box spill in the north Pacific will add urgency to a review of lashing practices on ULCVs, and could lead to...
The 2M alliance has announced a further blank sailing this week from Asia to North Europe to use the vessel on another service. The last-minute cancellation of the sailing of the 19,224 teu MSC Erica from Shanghai on 21 February is surprising, given that the ship is due at the port at 4am on Sunday...
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...
