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BAL re-enters liner trades with transpacific loader

Opportunistic Chinese shipowner BAL Container Line is making a selective comeback to the transpacific trade, after exiting liner shipping to focus on being a tonnage provider. According to container shipping consultancy Linerlytica, BAL has postponed chartering its new 14,400 teu BAL Athena to Maersk Line for the Gemini Asia-North Europe AE3 service. Instead, BAL will deploy the vessel on an ad hoc China-US West Coast service, from 24 July, calling at Ningbo, Shanghai, Long Beach, and Shanghai, to take advantage of booming transpacific spot rates. Maersk is expected to take on the BAL Athena once it completes its transpacific stint in early September. BAL, which previously operated a standalone China-Mexico service, stopped its independent liner operation in January 2023, when rates began normalising after the Covid-induced boom. On 3 June, LC Logistics, BAL's intermediate holding company, said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing it had sold BAL Athena to China Development Bank Financial Leasing ,under a sale-and-leaseback transaction. It was one of two ships BAL ordered in June 2024; the other being sold to MSC in December for $170m, BAL realising a $25m profit. On Friday, the Shanghai Containerised Freight index showed the Shanghai-US West Coast rate had risen 9% from 26 June, to $6,630 per 40ft. The Shanghai-US East Coast rate gained 12%, to $8,296 per 40ft. However, Linerlytica said the SCFI figures did not reflect the real-time picture, adding: "Transpacific rates remain very firm, with carriers able to hold their 1 July GRIs. "Spot rates to the US west coast have soared above $7,000 per 40 ft while rates to the US east coast have risen to over $8,600, with the SCFI yet to reflect these higher rates," the analyst said. The early peak season has seen Shanghai-US West Coast rates surge fourfold from about $1,800 per 40ft in February.

Time running out in row over auction to run for Santos Tecon10 terminal

Antaq, Brazil's national waterway transportation authority, is continuing to press for a two-stage bidding process for the Tecon10 container terminal project in Santos, despite government opposition. The Loadstar reported in mid-May how the Brazilian government's chief of staff office was keen to remove Antaq's bidding restrictions, which barred existing terminal operators in the port - APM Terminals, MSC, CMA CGM and DP World - from entering the first round of bids, due to anti-competition concerns. However, should no suitable offers be received, a second round of bids would be held that would allow existing operators to participate. In a later development, Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) ruled that shipping lines should also be barred from the first round, on the basis that 'vertically integrating' carrier and terminal operations would be similarly anti-competitive. However, Brazil's Investment Partners Programme (IPP), which runs the country's public-private investment projects, drew up a technical note which, firstly, argued that the TCU had failed to provide adequate reasons for excluding shipping lines, and secondly, recommended that existing terminal operators be allowed to bid in the first round. In a new filing to the government, Antaq claimed the government used the IPP paper to order it to lift its auction restrictions, but that appears to have been rejected the request on the basis that it would compromise the agency's legal autonomy "to set restrictions, limits and conditions in tender documents to prevent market concentration and anti-competitive practices". According to Brazilian newspaper Valor, the agency's filing to Brazil's Ministry of Ports and Airports, said: "The issue would therefore touch on Antaq's regulatory autonomy directly, and proposals that weaken competition oversight should be rejected." However, Valor also reported that Antaq director general Frederico Dias, who is also the appointed special rapporteur to the Tecon10 auction, had said that "if the government lays out clear public policy grounds without overstepping Antaq's legal authority, the agency should take that guidance into account". The new Antaq filing is now being studied by the ministry, and Antaq will only move forward with auction after its response. The government's current schedule is to open the bidding process by the end of the year, which means the issue will need to be resolved and the tender documents published by September.

AerCap to lease Boeing 777-300ERSF converted freighters to China Southern

Aircraft lessor AerCap has signed lease agreements with China Southern Air Logistics, which operates as China Southern Airlines Cargo, for three Boeing 777-300ERSF converted freighters. Known as "The Big Twin", the 777-300ERSF is converted by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) through its Bedek Aviation Group passenger-to-freighter (P2F) programme, for which Dublin-headquartered AerCap is the launch customer. The first of China Southern's three 777-300ERSF aircraft is scheduled for delivery in October 2027, while the second and third aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the first and second quarter of 2028, respectively. Li Xiao, chairman of CSA Logistics, said: "We are delighted to sign this significant agreement, extending our long-standing partnership with AerCap. "The introduction of the Boeing 777-300ERSF converted freighters marks a major milestone in the continued evolution of our fleet. "These aircraft will provide strong support for our strategy to expand intercontinental routes, enabling us to deliver superior service to customers worldwide." "We are delighted to once again support the China Southern Group, a long-standing AerCap customer and a key participant in the global air transportation market," added Aengus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap. "Through this important transaction, China Southern Airlines Cargo will add three B777-300ERSF aircraft to its fleet, offering an exceptional combination of range, payload capability and efficiency, powered by the proven GE90 platform. "The aircraft will integrate seamlessly into China Southern Air Logistics' existing B777 fleet. We extend our sincere thanks to the teams at China Southern Airlines, China Southern Air Logistics and China Southern Airlines Cargo for their trust and partnership, and look forward to supporting their continued expansion." The Challenge Group signed a deal witH AerCap in January 2025 to add two converted Boeing 777-300ERSF freighters to its fleet, the first 777-300ERFs converted freighters to be added to a European AOC. In September 2025, AerCap delivered the first two 777-300ERSF converted freighters to launch operator Kalitta Air after the programme gained certification the month before. More recently, in March, Ethiopian Airlines signed lease agreements with AerCap for two Boeing 777-300ERSFs and in May, Air Atlanta Icelandic was in the process of adding its second 777-300ERSF for its partnership with Fly Meta and Hungary Airlines.