Carriers and shippers scramble amid worsening container shortages in Asia
Shippers face worsening equipment shortages in China due to soaring export demand and disruption to long-haul and intra-Asia services caused by the ongoing vessel diversions around southern Africa. While the impact varies by carrier, forwarders say that Ningbo, Dalian, and Guangzhou are the worst-affected ports. Containers are also in short supply in Taiwan and Singapore. The source said longer transit times to Europe and North America as vessels divert via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea region have delayed the return of empty containers to Asia, particularly China.
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Container capacity crunch to last until September
The capacity shortage, which has driven the sudden surge in container freight rates in recent weeks, is set to last into August as carriers struggle to find sufficient tonnage to cater to demand. With the longer routing, the demand for teu per mile has outgrown available capacity, leading to a tighter shipper market. Redeployments of additional vessels onto the Asia-Europe trades have not been enough to compensate for the additional teu per mile demand, so carriers have been forced to blank sailings to maintain weekly services.
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FuelEU regulation set for ‘chaotic birth,’ lawyers warn
Lawyers have warned that shipping is set to struggle with the FuelEU Maritime Regulation roll-out, with the deadline for submission of monitoring plans now looming little more than three months ahead. Companies impacted by the measure — which applies to all ships calling in European Economic Area ports, irrespective of flag or country of beneficial ownership — would do well to get preparations underway immediately, advised Watson Farley & Williams partner Nick Walker and counsel Valentina Keys. “It’s even more complicated than the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. It’s very technical, it’s persnickety, it’s mathematical, and it’s not even clear how shipping will meet those targets, if they’re even achievable at this rate,” Keys maintained. Slow steaming alone won’t get shipowners over the line, she added. Walker also believed that FuelEU is not yet in its final version. He said: “There is a lot of law still to be made and many directions still to come from the commission, and it will probably be coming late in the day. “There’s a real chance we’ll still have the same chaotic birth for FuelEU that we’ve experienced with EU ETS. Operators need to do everything they can to be prepared now.”
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Shipping companies hesitant to prepare for unclear FuelEU
The Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association wants legal ambiguities in the FuelEU Maritime regulation resolved, warning of uncertainty and contractual risks for shipowners, operators, and charterers. Shipping companies are struggling to prepare for the upcoming FuelEU Maritime rules, citing a lack of clarity that has been going on for more than six months before implementation, according to the Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association.
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FuelEU to more than double biofuel bunker demand
According to Bunker Holding, the FuelEU Maritime legislation could more than double biofuel bunkering demand in Europe. The world’s biggest marine fuel trader expects total biofuel demand to exceed 1m tonnes in 2025, up from an estimated 400,000-500,000 tonnes in 2023, the company’s head of biofuels Manja Ostertag told Lloyd’s List on the sidelines of the Argus Green Marine Fuels Conference. Despite the higher demand outlook for biofuels, bunker suppliers said they did not expect supply shortages. “Until 2030, based on the current legislation, I do not see a supply crunch,” said biofuel supplier GoodFuels commercial director Johannes Schurmann.
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Global alternative fuel demand could exceed 10m tonnes in 2026
According to price reporting agency Argus Media, alternative fuel demand could represent up to 4% of all bunkers globally by 2026, owing to new regulations that aim to cut shipping emissions. Argus forecasts alternative fuel demand, including LNG and biofuels, to reach over 10m tonnes in 2026, from over 4m tonnes today, with the biggest increase expected from 2025 to 2026 driven by strong methanol demand. Argus said biofuels and LNG will make up nearly half of the 10m tonnes in 2026.
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Taxing shipping emissions will raise a lot of cash. How should it be spent?
The International Maritime Organization has an epic task ahead of it in deciding how to spend the funds it would raise by taxing shipping. Countries are trying to hash out a market-based measure such as a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme to close the gap between fossil and green fuels so shipping can reach net zero by 2050. The most ambitious proposal now on the table, by several Pacific islands and Belize, would price greenhouse gases at $150 per tonne of CO2 equivalent and potentially generate an average of $60bn-$90bn a year. But the IMO has not got far in deciding how to split funds between helping shipping go green and paying poor and vulnerable island countries to help them adapt to climate change while compensating them for the economic hit green regulations may cause.
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Topics on the Transport and Environment’s report on UK ports’ emissions
Ports have hit back at a recently published Transport and Environment report that detailed emissions at the UK’s biggest ports. Lobby group T&E’s report listed Milford Haven, Southampton, and Immingham as the worst polluted ports in the UK when it comes to sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM2.5). The shipping industry has not received the report well and has questioned its methodology and any value it adds to the debate on emissions in ports. The British Ports Association (BPA) disputed the findings, stating that the report lacked “any serious academic rigor” while questioning its methodology. But T&E hit back, saying that the BPA “shouldn’t be trying to divert attention away from the very serious problem of shipping pollutant emissions in ports.” T&E has defended its decision to use an “internationally-recognized methodology” derived from the International Maritime Organization and based on ship movements from 2022.
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