This article is useful for understanding how the global shipping trades are behaving now.
Apparently many operators of ships are willing to participate in trade with the Russia and China bloc. These often are smaller, older vessels, which are chartered specifically to avoid the sanctions regimes put forth by the EU and the US.
We don’t know where this will go. But it’s pretty certain the trend will continue for quite a while, and we may find that global ocean trade will continue to differentiate into two segments.
Nick Savvides updates us on the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act (OCAEA), which has been sponsored in the US Congress. The bill would repeal the current anti-trust exemption for ocean carriers, and would prevent US lines from entering into vessel-sharing agreements (VSAs).
Not everyone thinks this is a good idea, though ocean freight forwarders do think it would be a good idea.
One commentator pointed out that VSAs would be possible without anti-trust protection. Airlines have been code-sharing flights for years, and they have not been granted anti-trust exemptions.
Other commentators believe that ocean carriers’ increased vertical integration, through mergers and purchases of smaller firms, is more of a problem. If ocean shippers could control end-to-end delivery contracting, that would be a definite reduction in competition. And brokers would be threatened.
A more serious problem in my view is the poor carrier on-time performance, endemic in ocean shipping. Ocean carriers have been pulling capacity and rearranging it to keep ultra-large vessels operating nearly full, but the result has been a completely unpredictable delivery schedule for the beneficial cargo owner’s goods. And that is a serious supply chain problem for every customer.
It will be interesting, as rates slide, how ocean carriers handle the reliability problem; can they find ways to take care of their customers? Otherwise, we may see more private fleets and dedicated lines with guaranteed service, probably using smaller, less efficient ships.
California and Japan signed a letter of intent (LOI) to establish a green corridor, and also implement some zero-emission infrastructure. There will also be some emphasis on zero-emission fuel infrastructure and offshore wind development. The LOI is backed by two memoranda of understanding (MOU), between the Polr of Los Angeles and the Port of Tokyo and Port of Yokohama.
Some environmental pressure groups such as Pacific Environment applaud the move. They are calling for mandatory enforcement of the green corridors with aggressive interim goals to aim at 100% zero-carbon shipping by 2040.
Green Corridors are an excellent way to get cooperation on emissions and climate initiatives between ports, governments, and carriers.
Supply Chain and Logistics 