Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on the 17th that two oil tankers struck a mine and caught fire while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The security situation in the Strait has further deteriorated. Coupled with previous frequent attacks on merchant ships, insurance and detour costs may continue to push up the risk premium in the oil shipping market. (According to Reuters)
The weekly planned shipping capacity through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the week of October 5th reached 448 thousand TEU, which is 48% of August 2023 (930 thousand TEU), but doubled from the end of August. Xeneta said that this move will release a large amount of shipping capacity back to the global fleet, which will profoundly affect the 2027 freight rate; the current Far East-US West price is 8,296 US dollars/FEU, and shipping companies are increasing the suspension price. (Source: Xeneta)
On October 15, WCI rose 3% to US$4,485/40ft. Shanghai-Los Angeles +3% to US$7,884, Shanghai-New York -1% to US$10,075; Shanghai-Rotterdam +6% to US$3,522. The Asia-Europe route rebounded after falling for 13 consecutive weeks. The shipping company plans to raise the Asia-Europe FAK price to US$4,500-4,800 starting from the 19th. The landing effect is questionable. (Source: Drewry)
Three senior Republican congressmen sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, calling for the revocation of expedited port inspections and other convenient benefits for ships operated by COSCO Shipping Co., Ltd. on the grounds of so-called "espionage" accusations. This may add another twist to the shipping game between China and the United States.
The board of directors of South Korea's HMM approved an investment of 2.168 trillion won, including 8 new ships of 13,000TEU and 4 small container ships, continuing the fleet expansion plan.
On October 13, China's first dedicated liquid ammonia bunkering ship "Shenghang Yongle" completed bunkering of 1,000 tons of green ammonia for a 210,000-ton ammonia-powered bulk carrier at the Zhoushan anchorage in Zhejiang Province. It was the world's first green ammonia ship-to-ship bunkering, and a key breakthrough in the ammonia fuel supply chain. (According to news released by China Energy Construction)
The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Energy Administration jointly issued a document: By 2028, the number of new energy inland river ships will double compared with 2025, the number of electric transport ships will exceed 1,000, the number of methanol-powered ships will exceed 100, and the methanol refueling of the Yangtze River trunk line will be fully connected; a zero-carbon waterway transportation channel of "two horizontal, one vertical, and two networks" will be built. (Full text of official document)
The General Office issued it and proposed 22 key application scenarios: intelligent port safety management, intelligent risk analysis and judgment of the international shipping market, automated terminal unmanned operations, intelligent supervision of shipping carbon emissions, intelligent allocation of empty containers, etc. AI+ water transportation has entered the implementation stage. (Full text of official document)
On October 13, Zhonggu Shipping and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding signed a construction contract for two 14,000TEU large container ships. CSSC Trading participated in the signing. This was the first cooperation between the two parties. Domestic large container ships received another order from domestic trade shipowners.