Red Sea attacks prompt 2m teu drop in Suez boxship traffic.Maersk was the most active box carrier through the Suez before its recent decision to pause transits. Liner capacity through the Suez down some 60% across the New Year period, as carriers show unified response to Houthi threat.

Updated: US and UK launch strikes against the Houthis. First strike on militants comes after 27 attacks against commercial shipping in Red Sea. Houthi leader has vowed retaliation, saying the militants are targeting American-British military sites and bases. Russia has calls for UN Security Council emergency session.

Antwerp-Bruges throughput falls on economics and geopolitics pressures.

No more pin codes in Antwerp. Starting on 15 January 2024, the port of Antwerp-Bruges will implement the certified pick-up system for the release of import containers, replacing the current pin code system.

China may be losing its sway over Taiwanese business.The election of a pro-independence president will intensify bullying from Beijing. On january 13th William Lai Ching-te was elected as Taiwan’s president. He thus secured a third term for his pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (dpp). The vote will shape relations between self-governing Taiwan and China, which wants the island to be governed from Beijing. It will also affect the commercial relations between the two—and, because Taiwanese manufacturers sit at the heart of critical global supply chains, between them and the rest of the world.

Bangkok Port Authority opens free zone. The Bangkok Port Authority inaugurated a new free zone on 10 January, offering 24,000 sqm of warehousing and container yard space, aimed at enhancing services in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region for importers, exporters, international freight forwarders, and service providers.

This week we had the pleasure to welcome two new members in the network, in the Russian Federation and Slovenia. Welcome on board Continent LLC and Samer Global Logistics!

Transforming a French connection. Stating that “a tight regulatory environment in certain important markets has prevented the cooperation from working in an optimal way”, Air France-KLM and CMA CGM have decided to withdraw from their existing agreements from 31 March 2024. Air freight was seen as a natural extension during the pandemic boom years. Now CMA CGM will have to go back to the drawing board for its airborne ambitions.

Here’s the weekly update from our friend Steven Yuen from FS China:
The spokesperson for the Hapag-Lloyd company has just announced that, due to security concerns, the company will continue to alter its ship routes to avoid the Suez Canal, even with the recent structural changes at the Cape of Good Hope on the Far East-European Union alliance routes. The representative of the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company stated, ‘We believe that the current situation remains full of risks.’ He further mentioned, ‘We will conduct daily risk assessments and plan to make further decisions on January 15.
Even though the waterway is currently considered safe, this new route alteration is not expected to dissipate quickly. Moreover, all alliance European route shipping companies are still circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope, as the assessment of the Yemeni special waters remains highly perilous. The European route shipping companies are projected to have a 21% reduction in weekly average container capacity in February compared to January.

Author’s note: Spot market is around USD 5000 per 40ft HC from base port China to base port North Europe.

Cosco and China Merchants see muted box throughput growth despite overseas terminal gains. On a like-for-like basis, both state-owned port giants recorded low single-digit throughput growth in 2023. However, their terminals in the emerging markets, particularly the Middle East and South America, were among the strongest growth engines.

Maersk opts for Panama ‘land bridge’ amid canal woes. To bypass the drought-stricken Panama Canal, the Danish liner plans to modify its Oceania-Americas service by railing cargo from one side of the canal to the other. Due to severe drought conditions restricting vessel drafts and transits, Maersk is recalibrating its OC1 service between Oceania and the Americas to bypass the Panama Canal. Cargo will be railed across the 80 km between the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic ports, dividing the service into two separate loops.

Box volumes fall by more than 7% in the face of continuing crises. A year and a half on from the merger of the two ports, volumes remain constrained. But market share increases show the strategy has worked, port says.

Boxship fleet set to hit 30m teu this year. Overcapacity looms even with additional requirements for Red Sea re-routing. The aggregate capacity of the global boxship fleet will have doubled in less than a decade. The same cannot be said for demand growth so scrapping and slow steaming will become necessary tools for carriers.

We are working hard to accomplish a total make over of the EAA Network website. We invited some web designers to make an offer and after evaluation we expect to launch the renewed website within Q1-24. In the meantime, no updates are made on the current website, which therefore is not up-to-date. We appologize for this temporary discomfort.

OOCL feels the pressure. Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), an affiliate of Cosco since 2018, recorded more volumes, but significantly less revenues in Q4/2023. The revenues almost halved (-49%), falling from USD 3.18 billion in Q4/2022 to USD 1.62 billion in Q4/2023.

Maersk has entered a long-term operational collaboration with Hapag-Lloyd. Called the ‘Gemini Cooperation’, it will be implemented from February 2025, immediately after the conclusion of the current 2M Alliance. The new network will cover 7 trades: Asia / US West Coast, Asia / US East Coast, Asia / Middle East, Asia / Mediterranean, Asia / North Europe, Middle East – India / Europe and Transatlantic. The new network will comprise of 26 mainline services. The mainline ocean services will be complemented by a global network of dedicated shuttles centred around owned and/ or controlled transhipment hubs – thereof 14 shuttle services in Europe, 4 in the Middle East, 13 in Asia and 1 in the Gulf of Mexico.

China became the world’s biggest exporter of vehicles in 2023. It is reported that China exported nearly 5.3m vehicles last year, accelerating it past Japan, which is thought to have sold 4.3m vehicles abroad.

According to Bimco, a record 350 new container ships were delivered in 2023, totalling 2.2 million teu and surpassing the 2015 record. Container fleet capacity increased by 8%, the highest growth rate since 2011, with ships over 15,000 teu dominating.

Chinese EV giant BYD begins operating chartered car carrier.The newly built 7,000 ceu BYD Explore No.1 has embarked on its first voyage after picking up an initial load of cargo at Yantai port near the shipyard. The electric vehicle manufacturer, which has surpassed Tesla to become the global leader in sales, has taken a firm step towards its ambitious yet controversial plan to establish its own PCTC fleet.

South Korea’s parliament passed a bill that bans the farming and sale of dog meat.

In New Zealand, a song that was recorded at a frequency that can only be heard by dogs became a number 1 hit in early 2008. The title was: “A very silent night”.