Container flows stronger in Northern Europe 
The container throughput index published by the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) rose by 0.8 points to 122.8 points (revised) in December 2021. The index for Chinese ports showed a decline this time,... more
Hamburg’s new fairway open
In the port of Hamburg, the enlarged fairway on the Lower and Outer Elbe is now open to traffic, enabling vessels to transit the Elbe river with more cargo. The opening of the second stage of the route took place on 24 January. Containerships with a draft of up to 13.5 m can now... more
Port of Brussels hits the mark
The inland port of Brussels witnessed a record year in 2021. Its waterway traffic amounted to more than 7 million t. In terms of own traffic by waterway – goods loaded and unloaded in Brussels – 2021 is the strongest year since the creation of the regional company of the Port of... more
New Arabian-Asian services
Dubai-headquartered NVOCC Cargo Gulf is introducing new services between the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Subcontinent and Asia. The three new loops - Rapid Express Service (RES), Mekong Gulf Express (MGE) and Southeast Asia to Indian Subcontinent and the Arabian Gulf (SIA)... more
2M and ZIM extend cooperation
Maersk and MSC, alliance partners of 2M, have agreed, in principle, with ZIM to extend their existing operational collaboration on the Asia – US East Coast and Asia – US Gulf Coast trades based on a full slot exchange and vessel sharing agreement. The agreement is still... more
Breakbulk comes back to Antwerp
After the strong dip in 2020, the Port of Antwerp saw its breakbulk volumes return in full force in 2021. This upward trend is driven mainly by a leap in steel import volumes and a rise in project cargo shipments for ongoing renewable energy projects and the construction of... more
Schedule reliability still the weak point
Sea-Intelligence, a Copenhagen-based maritime intelligence provider, has updated its schedule reliability figures up to and including December 2021. The report covers the relevant data from 34 trade lanes and more than 60 carriers. Schedule reliability continues to decline,... more
US East Coast on the move
The East Coast port of Savannah moved 5.6 million teu 2021. Its volumes surged by a million teu, or 20%, compared to 2020. In Brunswick, Colonel’s Island Terminal handled almost 650,000 units of cars, trucks and machinery rise of 10.6% in comparison to the previous year.... more
Three for ammonia bunkering
Ensuring the safety of ammonia bunkering operations remains an issue. DNV will now lead an ammonia bunkering safety study to be conducted by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) in Singapore. The study aims to define a set of safety guidelines and operating... more
Autonomous ship stands the test
The Japanese liner MOL finalised its first sea trial of unmanned ship operation from port to port on 24 and 25 January 2022. Departing from Tsuruga Port in Fukui Prefecture, the vessels arrived safely in Sakai Port in the Tottori Prefecture. The consortium carried out the... more