Category: News

Maersk vessel collapses Baltimore bridge

The Dali, a time chartered Maersk container vessel with two pilots onboard, crashed into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the early hours of Tuesday 26th February, collapsing a large section of the 1.6 mile bridge into the Patapsco River. The Francis S... Read more

Research uncovers scale of Red Sea disruption

New research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found that over half of importing manufacturers and retailers (53%) have been impacted by the disruption to shipping caused by the Red Sea crisis, with over half of exporters (55%) also experiencing increased costs and delays. The issu... Read more

Freight industry award finalists

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) is the trade association for the freight, logistics and supply chain management sector. Their annual Freight Service Awards are the industry’s most contested and highly sought trade awards, because peer recognition is the ultimate accolade. ... Read more

General Red Sea Update

The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon. While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor... Read more

Insurers withdraw war risk cover

Since December 2023, nearly 30 commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea have faced missile strikes or near misses from the Yemen-based Houthis, including container ships owned by Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM. As of last week, 550 container ships have been diverted away from the Suez Canal or are p... Read more

Red Sea diversions disrupt China’s car supply chains

Carmakers had been struggling with a lack of car carrier RoRo capacity before the Houthi attacks began in the Red Sea and now with NYK and K Line suspending sailings via the Suez Canal nearly all big car car-carrier operators are diverting round the Cape of Good Hope, further reducing already squ... Read more

Red Sea Crisis; Situation Report, Wednesday 17th Jan

Despite coalition military action, Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial shipping and with container shipping line’ schedules showing Cape of Good Hope routing for vessels into early February and beyond, it is clear that they do not expect short-term access through the Suez Canal and Red ... Read more

Supply chain: Ukraine crisis

UPDATED 2nd March: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions and embargoes by the UK and other governments, will add further strain to international supply chains, that are still struggling with the protracted COVID pandemic and other disruption. The conflict is already impacting c... Read more

Sea freight rates continue rise

Monitored ocean Freight all Kinds (FAK) rates rose yet again this week from their already record-high levels, across all major East-West trades, up 518% on their level a year ago into Northern Europe and expected to remain on the higher side due to port congestion, huge demand and lack of e... Read more

Yantian port disruption widens with global ripple effects

While some container shipping lines will continue calling at Yantian, other carriers have already diverted ships as the port’s operations have deteriorated, with Maersk warning that delays are now expected to last two weeks. The Yantian congestion is yet another disruption to global shipping... Read more

Air freight rates show no sign of softening despite dip in demand in May

Current supply and demand dynamics will maintain elevated prices through peak season and into 2022, with analysts predicting systemic market changes that will keep rates at an elevated level in the long term. The rate of air freight rate growth has slowed on many routes, since peaking at the b... Read more

UK exports hit by EU and US tariffs

Despite the tariff-free deal agreed with the EU, up to £3.5bn of British exports have already had taxes applied and the US has introduced new tariffs worth $2bn on European goods, including products from the UK. British goods worth billions of pounds, accounting for about 10% of British expor... Read more