Newsletter – March 1, 2021

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Hong Kong shippers’ fears ease as 100% air cargo screening looms

theloadstar.com
The final phase of Hong Kong’s air cargo security screening programme began today with x-raying of all ‘unknown’ consignee cargo set for 30 June.

However, while local shippers welcomed a delay in the rule set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), citing increased lead times and costs, current market conditions mean its impact could be muted. Read more here (login required).

Another Good Weekend In The US Shows Increasing Demand For Travel

simpleflying.com
As a sign of increasing confidence in air travel, US passenger traffic has surpassed one million a day for the third straight weekend. However, this time, the numbers were just as good on Thursday, February 25th, as they were on Friday the 26th– an increasing sign that customers are willing to get back onboard planes as the busy summer season starts to set in. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Ocean carriers take heat for profiting ‘so handsomely’ while service plunged

freightwaves.com
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s Peter Friedmann took exception to what Hapag-Lloyd’s CEO didn’t say during a recent videoconference with media from around the world.
“It is one thing for ship schedule reliability to be at all-time low levels, but quite another for carriers to profit so handsomely by such collapse in dependable service,” Friedmann, executive director of the Washington-based AgTC, told American Shipper after reading about Rolf Habben Jansen’s press conference. Read more here.

MSC linked to another boxship deal

splash247.com
Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) shows no sign of slowing down its hunger for secondhand tonnage with brokers this week linking the line to another acquisition.
Clarkson is reporting that MSC has paid around $6m for Atlantica Shipping’s 2002-built 1,726 teu boxship Polo. According to VesselsValue data, Atlantica Shipping sold the vessel last week at the same time as selling sister ship Charlie. Read more here.

What the route of a container teaches us about the state of world trade

hapag-lloyd.com
The container is a symbol of globalisation. But during the coronavirus crisis, of all times, there suddenly aren’t enough steel boxes. Why is that? Tracing the journey of a container of the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd shows that global trade is out of balance.
In the four months of its existence, container HLBU 3294515 has already accomplished a lot. Read more here.

Ocean freight schedule reliability falls further

lloydsloadginglist.com
Global schedule reliability dropped to below 35% in January 2021 – barely half its level last year – according to Sea-Intelligence’s latest Global Liner Performance (GLP) report, with January becoming the sixth consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year decline in vessel performance. Read more here.

ONE Apus and Maersk Eindhoven may be back on course this month

theloadstar.com
The 14,000 teu ONE Apus, which suffered a catastrophic container collapse in November that saw over 1,800 containers lost overboard and thousands of others damaged, could resume its journey to the US west coast by the middle of the month.
The Japanese carrier said that, by the end of last week, 940 containers had been removed from the vessel at the Japanese port of Kobe, adding: “Based on the latest assessment, ONE Apus is aimed to depart on or around 15 March. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL UPDATES

Transportation training company offers free course after deadly storms

freightwaves.com
Recent winter storms devastated parts of the South, prompting businessman Jay Wommack to offer a free service to transportation companies.
He started Texas-based Infinit-I Workforce Solutions in 1999 as a web-based recruiting firm, changing its focus to online safety training in 2005. Read more here.

Gig worker rights battle moves to Toronto

freightwaves.com
The battle for gig worker rights has come to Canada, where the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has launched the Gig Workers United campaign. It is the latest in the global movement to increase wages and improve working conditions for gig workers who rely on app-based companies for employment.

“We have to stand up for ourselves — the streets don’t look out for us, the apps don’t look out for us, so we’re looking out for each other and collectively calling out a bad business model,” Narada Kiondo, one of the courier spokespersons for Gig Workers United, said in a statement announcing the organizing effort. “The way it is just can’t continue — if the gig economy is going to work for our society then it can’t be based on squeezing delivery workers and restaurants for profit and dodging our labor standards. And we’re going to persist, and we’ll win, because our bodies and our livelihoods are on the line.” Read more here.