Newsletter: March 30, 2022

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

The Impact Of Replacing Short Haul Flights With Trains

simpleflying.com
The French ‘ban’ on domestic flights where rail connections can be made in under two and a half hours is set to come into effect next month. Other countries in Europe are talking about similar strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from domestic air travel. But how much carbon emissions reduction will these measures actually contribute to?  Read more here. 

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Ever Forward still firmly grounded after first refloat attempt fails

splash247.com
Starting at about noon on Tuesday, the operation to refloat the Ever Forward – stuck in the mud of Chesapeake Bay since March 13 – began, with five tugboats working to free the ship. Although they pushed and pulled for more than five hours, the vessel didn’t budge.
Winds from the northwest were pushing water out of the bay, preventing the high tide considered necessary for success. Read more here. 

Ship charter rates still ‘spectacular’ but war could tip the balance

freightwaves.com
Do container line bosses believe the historic freight boom will end anytime soon? If the ship charter market is any indication, it sure doesn’t look like it.
Liner companies continue to pay record-high sums to rent container ships for up to five years, even as the Russia-Ukraine war caps rate gains. Read more here.

Shipbrokers desperate for ‘something to sell’ after box ship tonnage exodus

theloadstar.com
The shift by some ocean carriers to owning more tonnage rather than chartering-in ships has depleted the containership charter market by 1.6 mllion teu, according to Alphaliner data.
And there are concerns being raised in shipbroker circles that this reduction of ‘open’ tonnage will hinder the ability of the industry to cope with the normal seasonal peaks and troughs of the liner trades. Read more here (login required).

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Fuel price surge pushes cost of running empty higher

freightwaves.com
The cost of running empty just went up again. Nonrevenue, or empty miles, are nothing new. Carriers don’t get paid when they’re not loaded. While the cost bucket was up alongside fuel prices last year, it’s already up significantly in 2022.
Carriers have fuel surcharges (FSCs) in place to cover fluctuations in diesel prices for paid miles. However, they don’t cover deadhead, out-of-route miles or idle time. That means as fuel prices increase, so do the costs associated with running empty. Read more here. 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Bangladesh exporters manage to find alternative routes to Russia

theloadstar.com
Amid global sanctions and major vessel operators’ suspension of services to Russia, Bangladesh has started to send containers to Moscow via alternative routes.
Some 68 teu is now on its way to Poland, after being stuck in Chittagong for weeks, via transhipment in Colombo port. Read more here (login required).