Panamax Meets Pana-Drought — Drought Restrictions In Canal Cause Delays and 200 Ship Backlog

Panama, the fifth wettest country, is experiencing one of the two driest years in the country’s 143-year record. The historic drought has impacted the water levels in Gatun Lake and the Panama Canal resulting in the Canal Authority introducing ship draft … Continue reading

Port Congestion Spreads to East Coast & Major Shippers Charter Ships Independently

We recently posted about the record congestion in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach where over 60 container ships wait at anchor or simply drift offshore awaiting berth space.  The port congestion has spread to the East Coast … Continue reading

Container Ship Port Backlog Breaking Both Ends of the Supply Chain

The Marine Exchange of Southern California reports a new record for congestion in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. As of Monday, of 140 ships in the ports, 85 are container ships. Only 31 containerships are alongside the … Continue reading

Are Modern Ships Slower Than Sailing Ships? Probably not.

In 2010, the headline read,  Modern cargo ships slow to the speed of the sailing clippers. The article was subtitled, “Container ships are taking longer to cross the oceans than the Cutty Sark did as owners adopt ‘super-slow steaming’ to … Continue reading

APL ‘Cold-irons’ Ships in Oakland to Cut Pollution

Traditionally, ships in port use auxiliary generators to power shipboard electrical systems.   APL, the Singapore based container lines, is now going “cold-iron,” shutting down the  auxiliary  generators  on their ships docking when calling on Oakland, California and using shore power instead to meet the their … Continue reading

Maersk Triple E Class Ships – the VLCCS of Container shipping?

In the late 60s, the first VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carrier) were initially referred to as Malaccamax tankers, as they were the largest tankers that could navigate through the Straits of Malacca.  Maersk Line has recently ordered ten Malaccamax container … Continue reading

Maersk Ready to Order Malaccamax Containerships – 18,000 TEU ?

Maersk may be on the verge of ordering up to 20 of the largest container ships ever built,  18,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).  The largest container ships now in service are capable of carrying roughly 15,000 containers.   Analysts have identified 18,000 TEU ships as the largest container … Continue reading