Our global freight forwarding network keeps our customers freight moving across the world.

High utilisation a key factor in reducing box ship emissions

Higher levels of vessel utilisation onboard containerships has been revealed as one of the most important factors in reducing shipping emissions, according to new research published by freight intelligence platform VesselBot. VesselBot analysed 86,389 voyages by 6,523 box ships over Q2 this year and discovered that, while overall emissions measured on a well-to-wake basis grew 1.5% year on year, the increase was solely due to more feeder vessels being used, while every larger ship category saw reduced emissions. "Overall well-to-wake intensity rose 1.5%, to 231.7g CO2e per teu km. But five of the six vessel-size categories tracked in the report improved over the same period - from a 0.9% gain for panamax vessels to a 10.6% gain for the largest ships," noted the report. "Only feeders, which carried out 63.9% of all Q2 voyages, got less efficient, and that one segment's decline was enough to pull the fleet-wide number in the wrong direction." Ships of 14,000 teu and above made up just 7.4% of all voyages in the quarter, but carried 43.5% of total volumes, "accounting for only 27.4% of emissions". This is likely due to the far higher ship utilisation levels seen on deepsea trades compared with feeder services, with voyages in the most efficient emissions-intensity category averaging 80% utilisation, while the least-efficient saw just 31% utilisation. The report also revealed stark differences in emissions between vessels plying the same route with similar port rotations. For example, on the North Europe-North America transatlantic trade, the average emission intensity was 138g of CO2 per teu/km. The greenest transatlantic carrier was Hapag-Lloyd, which recorded an average well-to-wake emissions intensity of 80.7g CO2e per teu/km, 59% below the trade average, while CMA CGM was in second place with 105g CO2e per teu/km, 15% below the trade average. Hapag-Lloyd's sailings produced 31.3% less emissions than MSC voyages, which averaged 117.5g CO2e per teu/km, despite similar voyage distances and port pairs, "highlighting how operational choices can produce materially different emissions outcomes on comparable trades", noted the report, "A tradelane average tells a shipper what a route looks like on paper - it does not tell them what happened on their shipment," commented Constantine Komodromos, CEO and founder of VesselBot. "On the Northern Europe to North America East Coast tradelane, we observed a 31.3% efficiency gap between carriers for the route, despite similar voyage distances and port pairs. "Distance alone cannot explain that spread; the difference is in how those voyages were executed," he added. He said a similar pattern was seen at the global fleet level: "A fleet-wide number moving 1.5% in the wrong direction suggests the industry lost ground this quarter, but five of the six vessel-size segments actually became more efficient. "Feeders moved in the opposite direction, and because they accounted for nearly two-thirds of all voyages, were enough to pull the aggregate number higher. "That is the risk of managing to an average; it can point you in the opposite direction of what is actually happening," explained Mr Komodromos.

OceanX: From Guangzhou to Singapore; rising carrier margins; remembering Hanjin

Just back in Switzerland after what can only be described as some intense last few days of a long Asia trip to Singapore. It was quite an interesting journey to get there from Guangzhou - one that really makes you feel the vastness of the Pearl River Delta or the Greater Bay Area. After some nice dim sum with our local member, I got my luggage, and made my way into the Guangzhou East station, one of the early points in ...

Rates hold steady as carriers blank voyages to mitigate softer demand

Container spot freight rates on the main east-west trades continued in much the same vein as they have since the beginning of August - slight declines on Asia-Europe trades offset by slight increases on the transpacific. This week's World Container Index (WCI) by Drewry showed rates remaining elevated on the transpacific, with its Shanghai-Los Angeles leg up 2% week on week, to $7,352 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-New York route climbed just 1%, to $9,726 per 40ft. Drewry said it expected transpacific freight rates to remain stable next week, with eight blanked sailings due, compared with seven this week, expected to mitigate the easing demand. However, with China's Golden Week holiday due in less than three weeks, the "stable" rates are also expected to remain elevated, according to US west coast forwarder Freight Right. "Overall, demand remains strong and carriers have been able to maintain September pricing without significant movement. "The current market increasingly looks like an extended peak season that began earlier than usual this year and could leave ocean rates elevated through the end of September," it said. Another factor is the growing backlog of export cargo in China, a result of four separate typhoons in the space of just seven weeks - Linerlytica reported this week ships were now waiting up to 12 days for a berth in Shanghai and Ningbo, and would likely mean two things: shipping operations during Golden Week will be crucial to clearing some of this backlog; and consignees in Europe and North America can expect to see a prolonged period of "bunched" vessel arrivals through October. There could even by a sharper increase in transpacific spot rates if other carriers follow the lead of CMA CGM, which this week announced a 1 October introduction of peak season surcharges (PSSs) of $4,000 per 40ft from both the Far East and Indian subcontinent to the US west coast, and $10,000 per 40ft from the Indian subcontinent to the US east coast. On the Asia-Europe trades, prices continued their downward trajectory: the WCI's Shanghai-Rotterdam leg fell 2%, to $3,997 per 40ft, while the Shanghai-Genoa route was down 3%, to $4,216 per 40ft. According to Drewry's Container Capacity Insight, three blanked sailings are set for next week, up from one this week, but the tighter capacity is unlikely to reverse the rate trend, European forwarders told The Loadstar. "The peak is pretty much behind us," one said. "One useful indicator is when you see carriers place a time limit on the validity of their FAK pricing, as is the case now, because in my experience they don't normally increase prices before that period expires, which means that's pretty much it in terms of price rises until after Golden Week - for the Asia-Europe trades, at least," she added. However, European shippers on the transatlantic continue to face pricing pressure: the WCI's Rotterdam-New York leg was up 3% week on week, to finish at $3,126 per 40ft, and is now 100% higher than it was at the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict.