NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 14, 2022

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

UK’s Port of Felixstowe Reaches Pay Deal With Dockworkers

gcaptain.com
The Port of Felixstowe, Britain’s busiest container port, said that over 90% of its workers had agreed to accept a pay deal that would lift wages 8.5% next year.
The port, owned by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., will also pay workers a £1,000 bonus in the deal that is effective Jan. 1, 2023, a spokesman for the port said in an email. Read more here.  

CMA CGM restricts bookings to South China through January

theloadstar.com
French liner CMA CGM has told customers it will restrict bookings for shipments due to arrive at ports in southern China in early 2023, due to a suspension of service by feeder and barge operators through January.
South China and Hong Kong feeder operators have announced temporary service suspensions throughout next month, “due to Covid-19 quarantine requirements for ship crews” prior to Chinese New Year, CMA CGM (India) noted in an advisory. Read more here (login required).

Diverting box ships will push up GHG emissions

theloadstar.com
Carriers hit by slow demand, causing overcapacity and plummeting freight rates, are diverting Europe-to-Asia vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, effectively cutting capacity, but increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Read more here (login required).

Costco bites the early off-hire bullet amid demand slump and tumbling rates

theloadstar.com
The containership charter market correction has seen daily hire rates stabilise at levels roughly twice as high as those achieved prior to the pandemic, due to the limited supply of open tonnage.
However, faced with a slump in demand and freight rates in free-fall, operators are looking to buy themselves out of expensive long-term charters, meaning more ships will hit the market, dragging down prices. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Train strikes damage UK’s retailers more than Omnicron

ajot.com
A fresh wave of train strikes has hit Britain’s retailers even harder than the omicron variant of Covid-19 that threatened to ruin Christmas last year, according to fresh data showing a steep drop in the number of shoppers.
Almost 10% fewer people visited high-street stores on Tuesday — the first day of a string of strikes across the rail network — compared with the same date in 2021 when coronavirus restrictions were in place, according to information provider Springboard.  Read more here.