Category: Supply Chain

While the EU/UK vaccine spat has underlined the interconnectivity of supply chains, Boris Johnson is putting an invisible trade barrier between France and the UK and 25% of UK SMEs have stopped exporting to the EU altogether. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is... Read more

There has been only one story in town for the last week! Even though the Ever Given has been re-floated and the Suez Canal is working to clear the backlog of waiting vessels, a huge amount of uncertainty remains and we should still expect a shortage of containers at many origins, vessel diversion... Read more

One of the first casualties of the Ever Given’s grounding in the Suez Canal was vessel visibility and shipping line schedule integrity. With so many vessels delayed, out of position or diverted, visibility of their cargo’s location was critical for shippers but, with most shipping lines unabl... Read more

At approximately 15:00 today The Ever Given has been successfully refloated within the Suez Canal and is currently leaving the grounding site with the assistance of tugboats. As soon as she is clear of the Canal, the authorities will resume normal operation and start to clear the hundreds of vess... Read more

As of noon today the ultra large container vessel Evergreen Ever Given remains lodged sideways in the main channel, blocking vessels in both directions along the Suez Canal, creating one of the worst shipping jams seen in years and threatening even more chaos, when the grounded vessel arrives in ... Read more

The sea freight bunker industry has been undergoing significant change since the introduction of the IMO2020 rule and the impact of measures taken in response to the Coronavirus pandemic have contributed to major shifts in oil market dynamics, with rising prices encouraging shipping lines to incr... Read more

Industrial action at London’ Heathrow Airport by workers in the engineering, fire service, security, terminal operations, airside and landside sectors, will run from from the 2nd to 25th April, with the union Unite predicting “a massive effect” on cargo handling operations. The Heathrow ... Read more

Global lockdowns continue to drive consumer demand for goods, keeping ships full, sea freight rates high and leading shipping lines to take ever more desperate measures to increase their capability to take revenue opportunities. But, have they got their calculations right, or will their drive to ... Read more

At 7:40 am on 23 March 2021, the 20k TEU container ship Evergreen Ever Given was navigating the Suez Canal when it ran aground, turning the ship sideways and blocking the canal, with the potential to impact oil and sea freight prices if she cannot be freed quickly by the tugs currently trying to... Read more

Environmentalists have long voiced concerns about the CO2 emission damage of the global shipping fleet. They believe that shipping laden containers are doing untold damage to the climate and are extremely concerned about the volume of empty containers that have been travelling the globe recently.... Read more

The impact that the pandemic-driven global supply chain challenges, disruption and increased costs experienced since last year will have for consumers in 2021 has been bought into sharp focus by BBC News this week. Continuing supply chain issues and the massive increases in the cost of ship... Read more

The container shipping industry continues to face heavy port congestion and vessel delays worldwide. The situation adds to the severe lack of vessels and empty equipment availability, forcing carriers to blank sailings on some trades when these sailings could generate record revenues, encouragi... Read more