CONTAINER spot rates continue their relentless climb, with even more gains expected in July, wrote senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.

Early peak season demand has been so strong and spot rates have been so high that liners are loosening capacity management, finally adding more slots into mainline trades.

The current rate spike — caused by a combination of frontloading, Asian and European congestion, strong global demand, and the pass-along of higher fuel costs amid the Hormuz crisis — is now the third strongest in the industry’s history, surpassed only by the Red Sea crisis and the pandemic boom.

Struck Evergreen vessel departs Hormuz

A CONTAINERSHIP was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned vessels not to use the southern route approved by the International Maritime Organization this week, finds Lloyd’s List.

Taiwan-based container major Evergreen confirmed on Friday that its vessel Ever Lovely (IMO: 9629110), under the company’s Singapore subsidiary, was hit by an “unidentified object” when passing 3.6 nautical miles southeast of Khawr Naiwah, Oman at 9:55 pm Taipei time on June 25th.

The Singapore-flagged, 2015-built, 9,532 teu Ever Lovely has “safely departed the Strait of Hormuz”, Evergreen told Lloyd’s List in a statement, adding that the damage was found to the eaves area and bridge windows.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence vessel-tracking data showed that the vessel was heading to Singapore on its Automated Identification System.

Feeder boxship fleet renewal gathers pace as carriers and tonnage providers back smaller newbuildings

CONTAINER lines and boxship tonnage providers are ramping up orders for smaller containerships after spending much of the post-2022 newbuilding boom focused on larger vessels serving the main east-west trade routes, wrote markets editor Rob Willmington.

The shift reflects growing recognition that years of prioritising ships of above 13,000 teu capacities have left a shortage of smaller vessels that underpin regional and feeder networks.

“The global container shipping industry spent the best part of a decade obsessed with size. Bigger ships, bigger alliances, bigger bets on the major east-west trades. It made sense at the time,” said Braemar container market analyst Jonathan Roach.

Another Hormuz rate bonanza bites the dust as VLGC upside unwinds

HORMUZ crisis rate spikes have rippled through different shipping segments with staggered timing, wrote senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.

Limited capacity and soaring slot auction costs drove more VLGCs to the longer Cape of Good Hope route in April, limiting vessel availability in the US Gulf in May as vessels had yet to return in ballast.

The Panama Canal effect on the VLGC market has eased. According to data from the Panama Canal Authority, there were only 74 VLGC transits in April, down 24% from 97 in March. But in May, there were 100 VLGC transits, up 35% versus April.

Ship-position data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s Seasearcher on Tuesday shows that laden VLGCs departing the US Gulf are heavily using the Panama Canal route, in addition to the Cape of Good Hope route.

VLCC rates spike yet again as ‘confusion continues to reign’ at Strait of Hormuz

Spot rates for very large crude carriers have surged, even as the crude flow through the Strait of Hormuz remains a relative trickle compared to pre-crisis levels, wrote senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.

This marks the second major rate spike for VLCCs since the beginning of the war. The first, in early March, was caused by panic among crude importers.

This time around, the mere hope of reopening the strait (a hope that remained unfulfilled as of Monday) is boosting rate sentiment globally by pulling tonnage from other routes.