Inditex, parent company of fashion brands such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, has partnered with Maersk to reduce its global greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint from seaborne logistics by incorporating alternative fuels.

Through the ECO Delivery Ocean programme, Maersk replaces fossil fuels on its ships with green fuels, like green methanol or second generation biodiesel based on waste feedstocks. This is expected to deliver an estimated reduction of more than 80% in GHG emissions compared to conventional sources. according to Maersk's calculations.

With ECO Delivery Ocean, Maersk offers its customers the opportunity to handle transports completely with certified green fuels for a fixed cost. The corresponding greenhouse gas savings are confirmed to the customers with an externally verified certificate and these transports will be exempted from EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) charges by Maersk in the future.

"This collaboration is a great example of how boosting innovative solutions with dedicated partners is key to fight climate change. Through this joint initiative with Maersk, we are making significant strides in reducing emissions associated with our sea freight. This project aligns with our goal to reach net zero emissions in 2040 and contributes to scale alternative fuels with a significant reduced carbon footprint," commented Abel Lopez, Head of Import, Export and Transport at Inditex.

Like Inditex, Maersk has the ambitious climate target to become a net zero company across all business areas until 2040. Besides using ECO Delivery for all its ocean cargo under Maersk care, Inditex is also boosting multimodal transport and is collaborating in a new rail solution pilot of Maersk, RENFE and Cepsa in the South of Spain which was launched this summer.

"We are proud to have Inditex among our first customers who assign 100% of their Maersk ocean inbound cargo to our ECO Delivery product, which ensures a significant reduction of GHG emissions thanks to green fuels. We have known Inditex for a long as a very responsibly and sustainably thinking partner and customer and going all the way on their ocean cargo is good news for the environment and climate," said Emilio de la Cruz, Managing Director of Maersk’s Area South West Europe.

Rates on the two major trades to Europe and the United States continued to slide even as workers begin their slow return to factories in China following the Golden Week holidays.

Last week’s shutdown of production in China included the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) which will resume publishing its rates this week with the headhaul Pacific rates already US$200/FEU below the last SCFI value.

Spot freight rates to Europe were set at a pre-Golden Week level of US$1,166/FEU but are now said to have crashed to under US$800/FEU.

Carriers have announced rate rises on both major trades, US$1,000/FEU on 15 October and 1 November on the Pacific and an increase of up to US$1,800/FEU on the European trades according to the Hong Kong-based consultancy, Linerlytica.

These proposed rate increases with Linerlytica confirming, “There remains very little conviction that the higher rates will hold in the absence of any capacity adjustments.”

In addition, the consultant reported, “Initial projections for November show capacity increases on the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes of between 7% to 17% month-on-month, that largely reverses the capacity reductions in October.”

Even with the 0.9% of the fleet, 65 ships totalling 243,097 TEU idled, the flood of new ships, totalling 23 ships of 151,916 TEU delivered in the last 30 days has largely offset the non-operating fleet, while the scrapped vessels, 10 ships of 16,200 TEU are not enough to move the dial.

A collapse in demand has seen an increase in the number of available spot vessels for charter according to shipbroker Braemar, who reports, “With a larger amount of available spot vessels in the market, as well as increasing surplus tonnage being on offer, the overall tone floating around the market is not encouraging and the expectations for the fourth quarter of 2023 are alarming.”

Braemar adds that to sustain freight markets in the period from now to 2025 there is an expectation for a substantial increase in demolitions. The broker believes that the cascading of ships, will put vessels in the mid-sized range under pressure, ships of between 4,000 and 7,500 TEU.

“There are 250 vessels in the 4,000-7,500 TEU size bands that are aged over 20 years. Significant fleet management to follow while the supply and demand dynamics remain out of kilter,” said Braemar.

In its August figures Xenata Freight Index said its data showed a 62.7% decline in long-term freight rates over the last year, with a 7.8% decline in contract rates in August alone.

Xenata added, “Routes from the Far East, the busiest globally, experienced a significant 75% year-on-year contract value reduction based on Xeneta's regional sub-index.”

DP World and Maspion Group have announced the start of the construction works on a new container terminal in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia.

The new container terminal will strengthen East Java's position as a vital trade gateway, connecting Indonesian companies with clients in the region and throughout the world.

On 2 October 2023, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, and Alim Markus, chairman and CEO of Maspion Group, attended the groundbreaking ceremony, which was witnessed by Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation of Republic of Indonesia and Septian Haryo Seto, deputy of coordinating minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs of Republic of Indonesia.

Furthermore, the joint venture DP World Maspion East Java will operate the contemporary international container port with a design capacity of up to 3 million TEUs.

As part of DP World's ambition of providing end-to-end supply chain solutions, the JV will also build an integrated industrial and logistics park adjacent to the box terminal, with an initial land size of 1,1 million m² and future development potential.

"We see significant potential in Indonesia as a major hub for global trade, and we hope to unlock further growth in the region through meaningful partnerships and investments that bring opportunities through greater trade connectivity for local businesses and communities. Our partnership with Maspion Group to build new infrastructure in Gresik will strengthen East Java’s position as a key trade and logistics gateway. It will also serve as a cornerstone in our strategy to expand our global ports and logistics network to offer our customers end-to-end solutions and boost supply chain resilience,” stated Ahmed bin Sulayem.

The expansion of deepwater terminals at Yangshan islands in Shanghai is getting into full swing, with the city’s government pledging to build world-class infrastructure and spur growth as part of its latest effort to shore up confidence in the city’s foreign trade.

Zhang Xiaohong, a Shanghai vice mayor, told the North Bund Summit, a shipping industry conference, on Friday that new port facilities under construction will gain international prominence and effectively buoy China’s trade with foreign partners.

“Construction [of terminals] at the northern side of Xiao Yangshan has gone into full swing,” he said. “When they are complete, the waterway from Yangtze River to the ocean can be better utilised to bolster Shanghai’s status as the world’s shipping hub.”

Zhang was referring to the 51.3 billion yuan (US$7 billion) harbour project that will eventually handle 11.3 million 20-foot-equivalent units (teus), nearly a quarter of Shanghai’s total container throughput last year.

Construction of the deep water port began in 2002 following China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, a watershed event that resulted in thriving trade emanating from the Yangtze River Delta around Shanghai.

Shanghai International Port Group, the state-owned operator of terminals in the city, announced last September that it would start building the new terminals the following month.

Extreme weather, particularly typhoons and hurricanes in North Asia and the United States, resulted in congestion building up in major ports.

Linerlytica’s report today stated that vessel queues went up in the week that ended on 10 September.

North Asia, particularly, had been battered by heavy rain amid the typhoon season, with Super Typhoon Saola, Typhoon Khanun and Typhoon Haikui hitting China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Linerlytica estimates that around 400,000 TEUs were in the vessel queue in ports in each region of North Asia and North America, where Florida state was lashed by Hurricane Idalia.

Ships had to wait up to three days to berth, due to the disruptions to port operations in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Kaohsiung, Ningbo and Busan.

However, the congestion has already started to clear in North Asia by the end of last week with terminals and gate operations all reported to be back to normal.

In North America, there has been a build up across the East Coast with wait times of up to four days with Savannah, Norfolk, Baltimore and Charleston currently the worst hit.

However, with shipping supply exceeding demand, the bottlenecks have not halted the downward slide in freight rates. On 8 September, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) fell below the 1,000 mark again, losing all gains in the previous seven weeks.