Newsletter – January 25, 2019

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

A quieter year for air cargo? Not according to expansion-minded carriers

loadstar.co.uk
Despite expectations that the air freight market could soften this year, airlines seem keen to upgrade their fleets and networks, according to several announcements this month. Read more here. 

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Fire-hit Yantian Express sails for safe harbour in the Bahamas

loadstar.co.uk
Stricken Hapag-Lloyd containership Yantian Express will sail to Freeport, after “considerable” progress in salvage operations after a fire broke out on board on 3 January. Read more here. 

US deliveries hit by delays as record imports spark west coast port congestion

loadstar.co.uk
US importers are bracing themselves for more delays in the coming weeks, as congestion at the major west coast container gateways worsens, exacerbated by shortages of container chassis and rail cars.  Read more here. 

Vancouver to raise capacity of DP World terminal to 1.5 million TEU

seanews.com.tr
CANADA’s Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has awarded to ACS Group a large-scale port project for the design and construction of the DP World container terminal that will account for 20 per cent of the port’s total freight volume. Read more here. 

2020 low sulphur fuel rule to send flood of aging ships to scrap yards

seanews.com.tr
THE containership demolition market is on course to rebound this year amid a flurry of activity to scrap polluting older vessels in their fleets ahead of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) … Read more here. 

New Ocean Alliance mega ships to try port call cuts and slow steaming

seanews.com.tr
LONDON’s Drewry Maritime Research says that with a large number of big Ocean Alliance newbuilds in the offing, a seventh loop between Asia and North Europe was ‘inevitable’, reports London’s Loadstar. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

The China conundrum: are we headed for supply chain meltdown?

theloadstar.co.uk
CEOs need to rethink supply chain strategy amid escalating tension between China and the US. This piece from Diginomica lists threats posed by the hostility, including tariffs, trade wars and theft of intellectual property.  Read more here.