Lines’ level of profitability is not driven by a volume growth, as apart from Zim, all other carriers that report global volumes either recorded sharp on-year declines, or in the case of Hapag-Lloyd, a marginal 0.4% increase. The  ebit figures are more so a reflection of the current freight rate environment

Sea-Intelligence’s Alan Murphy highlights a shift in North American traffic, systemic changes in transpacific vessel sizes and the prospect of an equipment capacity crunch

A return to normality for the global supply chain will bring huge relief to container shipping, but the next headache will be repatriating empty boxes particularly on the transpacific trade

Freight rates are expected to remain at record highs, as congestion problems that plagued 2021 continue. Schedule reliability will also likely repeat last year’s dismal performance, making ‘resilience and robustness’ essential to supply chain planning

The latest global schedule reliability data shows carriers arriving ‘on-time’ with around one in three vessels, as the seasonal decline in volumes had little impact on port punctuality

In this edition of Between the Lines, the focus is on North America as the primary driver of the current demand boom