Newsletter: March 1, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Sanctions squeeze Russian carrier Volga-Dnepr, air cargo capacity

freightwaves.com
Volga-Dnepr, a Moscow-based airline specializing in outsize and heavy freight, is a notable casualty of the economic crossfire between the West and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, knocking it out of business in major markets and delivering another supply chain shock to shippers at a time of scarce capacity. Read more here. 

Air Canada will add 3 freighters in 2022 to diversify, maintain cargo growth

supplychaindive.com
Dive Brief:
Air Canada plans to add three dedicated freighters to its fleet in 2022 as the airline looks to diversify its revenue streams in the face of lower passenger demand, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Lucie Guillemette said on a Feb. 18 earnings call.
Air Canada saw record cargo revenues last year, aided by the temporary conversion of passenger aircraft to all-cargo configurations, per its Q4 results. Now it’s adding permanent cargo-only flights — it introduced its first Boeing 767 freighter in December, the first of eight aircraft that will eventually make up its freighter fleet. Read more here.

YVR’s Jason Tse: airports have been forced to rethink operations

aircargoweek.com
Jason Tse, manager of commercial leasing, cargo at Vancouver International Airport says the pandemic has forced airports to rethink their operations to increase resiliency. He notes: “The pandemic has given Vancouver International Airport the opportunity to strengthen its operations and take on infrastructure and maintenance projects.”
He adds that improvements like this will make Vancouver Airport’s operations more streamlined and therefore increase its overall resilience. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Biden’s State of the Union address today will target global liners

splash247.com
At today’s State of the Union address, president Joe Biden will take a swipe at the global liner industry in his ongoing battle to try and fix supply chains.
Biden will announce an agreement between the Department of Justice and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to make sure that large ocean freight companies cannot take advantage of US businesses and consumers. Read more here. 

Transfar takes 4,600 teu boxship for $200,000 a day

splash247.com
Money is no object to the Singapore-registered, Alibaba-linked Transfar Shipping – getting box tonnage, whatever the costs is the priority in today’s tight container markets.
Brokers report Transfar has taken the 13-year-old, 4,600 teu Northern Prelude from Germany’s Northern Shipping for a period of up to three months at a stunning $200,000 a day. Read more here. 

TPM22: Vincent Clerc defends Maersk’s transformation

theloadstar.com
In a wide-ranging interview between JOC editor Peter Tirschwell and Maersk’s ocean and logistics chief executive Vincent Clerc on the first day of the Trans Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference in Long Beach  ? and it feels as if it was another lifetime when I last wrote that line ?  we got the clearest outline yet of the thinking behind the Maersk transformation project. Read more here (login required).

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

TPM22: Shippers flock to LB – ‘is there a way out of the supply chain mess?

theloadstar.com
Shippers and BCOs have come out in force to attend TPM22 in Long Beach, California, this week and want to leave with improved visibility of the current “supply chain mess”.
It’s a supply chain crisis that has hobbled timely delivery of products to retail shelves and driven up freight rates to unsustainable levels. Read more here ( login required).