Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

Habib Turki (above) was today confirmed as the new secretary general of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), following a vote at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Geneva. He will succeed Umberto de Pretto on 1 August, joining the IRU from the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), where he developed the Tourism Services Department and led its advocacy at the UN. In 2024, he was named chief development officer of the FIA and negotiated partnerships and agreements with international organisations and governments, while supporting FIA’s expansion in China and across Asia. Prior to that, he served as the IRU’s regional adviser for the Middle East from 2015 to 2018, successfully growing the union’s presence in the region, advocating the accession of Oman, Palestine, Qatar,and Saudi Arabia to the TIR system. “It is an honour to be appointed IRU secretary general and I am delighted to work again with IRU members across the globe,” said Mr Turki. “IRU’s rich history speaks for itself: from reviving war-torn trade links in post-war Europe with the TIR system and advancing road safety globally; to leading the pragmatic, sustainable decarbonisation of our industry. “I am excited to lead the organisation into its next chapter,” he added.

The Premier Alliance is set to drop two weekly calls at the Spanish transhipment hub of Algeciras on its Asia-North Europe services as part of its continuing network restructuring. Lead Premier Alliance partner ONE said the changes to the FE1 and FE3 services would result in “providing direct access to Le Havre from South-east Asia”, and “optimised routing to provide faster transit times to Antwerp and Felixstowe”, respectively. Beginning with the departure of the 8,200 teuONE Hamburgfrom Laem Chabang on 6 June, the Premier Alliance’s FE1 service will feature a port rotation of Laem Chabang-Cai Mep-Singapore-Rotterdam-Hamburg-Le Havre-Singapore-Laem Chabang. This means Le Havre has replaced Algeciras as the last port of call in Europe before the backhaul leg begins. ONE Hamburghas been brought in from the Premier Alliance’s FP1 transpacific service and, according to the eeSea liner database, the FE1 will be operated by 13 vessels with an average capacity of 8,200 teu. The FE1 has undergone a radical transformation this year, from a Asia-North America-North Europe round-the-world service into a far more streamlined South-east Asia-North Europe service, jettisoning three calls in Japan. Meanwhile, on the alliance’s FE3 service, operated in conjunction with MSC, which markets the string as the Condor service, the Algeciras call – the first in Europe on the rotation – will be dropped, with Felixstowe becoming the first port of call. With the departure of the 24,000 teuHMM Dublinfrom Qingdao on 11 June, the new FE3 port rotation will be Qingdao-Ningbo-Yantian-Singapore-Felixstowe-Antwerp-Hamburg-Qingdao. The move will come as a relief for UK shippers who spent much of last year complaining about FE3 reliability. In December, one forwarder toldThe Loadstar: “From a UK perspective, the FE3 which calls North Europe before UK is being seriously delayed in Algeciras and Rotterdam, putting approximately two weeks on transit times; so to avoid this, pressure is being put upon the carriers by us and shippers to tranship UK cargo in Singapore onto the FP2/FE4, to reduce transit times. “This in turn puts additional space pressure on these two UK services,” the forwarder added. Putting Felixstowe as the first European port of call on the FE3 should resolve this, while the Rotterdam call was dropped from the service in March. Last summer, ONE director of product and network for Europe and Africa Stanley Smulders toldThe Loadstarhowport congestion in the Dutch hub was impacting liner services. While MSC is listed as an alliance partner on FE3/Condor, it currently has no vessels deployed on the service, which will now be staffed by 15 ships provided by HMM, Yang Ming, and ONE, with an average capacity of 20,300 teu. The two service changes “appears to indicate that the market to North Europe is sufficiently strong that there is no need to carry Mediterranean cargo to be transhipped in Algeciras”, said Vespucci Maritme CEO Lars Jensen, although he added that it would also likely result in lower emissions surcharges for European importers. “Additionally, under the EU ETS rules, it means that the “carbon tax” to be paid will now be applicable only for emissions between Felixstowe and Hamburg, and not on the long voyage from Asia to Europe,” he said.

Nel porto svedese di Wallhamn si è svolta la cerimonia di battesimo della Grande Svezia, nuova nave Pure Car & Truck Carrier del Grimaldi Group e ulteriore tassello del piano di transizione energetica della compagnia armatoriale napoletana.Consegnata alla fine del 2025, l'unità appartiene alla nuova generazione di navi 'ammonia ready', predisposte per il futuro utilizzo dell'ammoniaca come carburante a zero emissioni di carbonio. La Grande Svezia sarà impiegata sul servizio EuroMed che collega regolarmente Mediterraneo e Nord Europa. Il battesimo si è tenuto a Wallhamn, unico scalo privato della Svezia gestito proprio dal gruppo Grimaldi, mercato servito dalla compagnia da oltre trent'anni.Alla cerimonia hanno partecipato clienti e partner storici del gruppo, tra cui Volvo Cars e Volvo Trucks. Dopo gli interventi di Sven-Göran Sjöström, amministratore delegato di Grimaldi Maritime Agencies Sweden, e di Costantino Baldissara, Automotive Atlantic Director del gruppo, la nave è stata benedetta prima della tradizionale rottura della bottiglia affidata alla madrina Francesca Gamboni, Chief Industrial Operations Officer di Volvo Cars.Costruita dal cantiere China Merchants Heavy Industries Jiangsu, la nave misura 220 metri di lunghezza e 38 di larghezza, ha una stazza lorda di 91.611 tonnellate e una capacità di carico fino a 9 mila Ceu distribuiti su 14 ponti, per il trasporto di auto e mezzi commerciali anche elettrici.Particolare attenzione è stata riservata alle tecnologie ambientali. La Grande Svezia dispone infatti di mega batterie al litio da 5 MWh, sistemi per il cold ironing che consentono di azzerare le emissioni durante la sosta in porto, oltre a pannelli solari, air lubrication e soluzioni avanzate per l'efficienza energetica e la riduzione dei consumi. Secondo il gruppo, rispetto alle precedenti generazioni di car carrier il risparmio di carburante può arrivare fino al 50%.Con la Grande Svezia salgono a undici le unità Pctc ammonia ready già operative nella flotta Grimaldi, destinata ad ampliarsi ulteriormente con l'arrivo di altre sei navi entro il 2027. Riproduzione riservata © Copyright ANSA Da non perdere Condividi

Taiwan’s Evergreen showed its ambition last week as the seventh-largest shipping line finalised orders for five 24,000 teu LNG dual-fuelled ships at Guangzhou Shipyard International, for between $1.3bn and $1.48bn. Evergreen’s directors approved the newbuilding order in 2025, but the contract was only finalised after assessing builders’ bids. The ships will be delivered in 2029. George Yourokos-controlled Global Ship Lease (GSL), whose boxship fleet is all second-hand, has inked its first newbuilding orders, commissioning eight 6,200 teu ships at Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, for delivery between 2029 and 2030. Each costs between $72m and $75m. Given GSL’s practice, it is likely that a charterer is lined up. Its clients include the five largest shipping lines, MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Cosco, and Hapag-Lloyd. Shanghai Changshun Shipping, a low-key Chinese tonnage provider, has expanded its containership fleet, ordering six 6,150 teu ships at Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding, for $70m each, with options for four more. The company is moving into the mid-sized boxship segment; its current fleet comprises two 2,800 teu ships,Chang Shun Qian ChengandChang Shun Jin Xiu, as well as three bulk carriers.Chang Shun Qian Chengis chartered to X-Press Feeders, while Safetrans has charteredChang Shun Jin Xiu. Furthermore, Shanghai Changshun is awaiting delivery of four 4,800 teu vessels ordered at the same shipbuilder in early 2025, for delivery between this year and 2027. Two of the 4,800 teu vessels have secured charters with CMA CGM and China United Lines. China Merchants Energy Shipping’s liner operator subsidiary, Sinotrans Container Lines (Sinolines), has finalised its massive boxship newbuilding orders at affiliated shipyards. Four 8,200 teu ships, costing $422m, will be built at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu), four at 3,000 teu, priced at $194m, will be constructed at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing), and four at 1,800 teu, costing $138m, will be built at China Merchants Shipbuilding Qingshan Shipyard. CMES said the newbuildings will strengthen Sinolines’ capacity, indicating the possibility of diversifying beyond the latter’s core intra-Asia focus. India-based shipowner Stella Bulk has entered the container segment, ordering a 740 teu pair at Taizhou Maple Leaf Shipbuilding, with options for two more. Stella Bulk is understood to be controlled by Jayalakshmi Sivasankaran, former wife of Indian industrialist Chinnakannan Sivasankaran, who founded the Siva group. MB Shipbrokers said newbuilding interest continued to appear relatively firm, particularly in the 6,000 teu and 11,000–15,000 teu segments. The Danish brokerage said: “Asian liner companies still account for the majority of demand, especially for larger LNG dual-fuel tonnage where several sizeable projects remain in the pipeline. Many European liner operators appear to have concluded their newbuilding projects for now.” Listen now for a data-rich deep dive into the volatility redefining global shipping in 2026

Shipping companies are being urged to prepare now for the arrival of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) in the maritime sector in July – industry experts warning that companies relying on simple “buy-to-comply” strategies risk higher long-term costs. During a webinar today, hosts Zero44 and CFP Energy said the new regime would initially mirror many elements of the EU ETS, but would create new compliance and cost-management challenges for shipowners, operators, and charterers. From 1 July, UK ETS will apply to domestic UK voyages, emissions at berth in UK ports, and movements within ports for vessels above 5,000 gt. International voyages to and from the UK will be excluded, although the government is expected to review that in 2028. Sandra Bronsvoort, head of stategy at Zero44, said the regulations were designed to align closely with EU ETS to reduce complexity for the industry. “The regulatory scope is, apart from the geographical part of it, very similar to EU ETS, which is good news, I think,” she said. However, she cautioned that even operators with limited UK exposure could still face a significant administrative burden, because all emissions while ships are berthed in UK ports fall within its scope. That means a vessel calling at a single UK port on an international voyage may still need monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) arrangements, and a UK registry account. “Unfortunately, the answer is ‘yes’,” Ms Bronsvoort said in response to a question about whether operators making only occasional UK calls would still require a registry account. The speakers repeatedly stressed that shipping companies should begin preparing charter-party arrangements well before the scheme takes effect.Ms Bronsvoort said: “Who pays what, when, [is] very important, but also how.” According to Zero44, charterers are already signalling differing preferences around how UK ETS costs and emissions reporting should be handled, with some likely to request separate UK ETS statements alongside EU ETS settlements. The webinar also highlighted growing concern over future carbon costs. CFP Energy said tightening emissions caps in both the UK and EU schemes would place upward pressure on allowance prices longer-term, particularly as regulators increasingly focus on harder-to-abate sectors, such as shipping, aviation, and industry. Tim Atkinson, head of carbon at CFP Energy, urged that shipping companies should start approaching carbon exposure in the same way they manage fuel procurement or freight risk. “We’ve seen this over the years with the industrial sector,” he said. “Very much as a ‘buy to comply’, and then as they started to get better understanding of their emissions, as the cost of allowances went up, as the amount they need to buy went up, they look to get a little bit smarter about how they put a risk management strategy in place.” He added that many companies remained overly reactive in their purchasing strategies. “Not surprisingly, when prices dropped below 70, there was a massive amount of activity from compliance buyers looking to hedge their 2026 requirements at what is very favourable pricing,” Mr Atkinson explained. The webinar also underlined the growing political significance of carbon markets. CFP Energy noted that UK carbon prices had increasingly tracked EU prices since London and Brussels opened discussions on potentially linking the two systems. If a linkage agreement is eventually reached, UK and EU allowances could become mutual for compliance, a move widely expected to push UK carbon prices closer to those in the EU. Speakers suggested 2028 was emerging as a possible timeline for both linkage and expansion of UK ETS to international voyages. Listen to our recent podcast with Container Trades Statistics for a data-driven discussion of Q1 26 in ocean freight!

First-quarter earnings for Israeli liner Zim plummeted more than 129% year on year, and it recorded a net loss of $86m, as efforts to get its merger deal with Hapag-Lloyd over the line continue, despite an alternative late-in-the-day offer. After net income of $296m just 12 months ago, turbulence in the Israeli carrier’s sphere of operations was always likely to prompt a decline in performance, shown by the 8% year-on-year dip in volumes, to 866,000 teu, and 30% drop in revenue, to $1.4bn. Outgoing chief executive, and one-time would-be buyer, Eli Glickman said: “The conflict in the Persian Gulf sparked a sharp increase and significant volatility in bunkering costs. “While the impact on Q1 results was minimal, we expect a more meaningful effect in the second quarter, before our actions to offset these costs, including increased freight rates and bunker-specific surcharges, begin to take hold. “Zim is likely to see incremental benefits from our early adoption of LNG technology and long-term agreements with Shell securing LNG supply.” Its latest results followed news that entrepreneur Haim Sakal, backed by Israeli investors, had tabled an all-cash offer for the carrier of $4.5bn, $300m higher than the bid from Hapag-Lloyd. Reports indicate that not only has Mr Sakal confirmed that both Zim’s fleet and operational headquarters would remain in Israel, his offer includes an employee bonus package believed to be in the region of $250m. However,Loadstar’s Premium’sAle Pasetti pushed back on chances that Mr Sakal’s offer could unseat that of Hapag-Lloyd, noting that the German carrier had secured 97% of shareholder votes and was binding. But he cautioned: “Neither [offer] has a chance to go through, judging by the current share price at nearly 30% discount to Hapag’s cash offer”. Perhaps seeking to assuage the prospective buyer, Mr Glickman noted that on its main trades, Zim had “recently observed a positive change” that had resulted in both the rates and demand situation improving, with expectations that second half financials could be much improved. He added: “In parallel, we completed annual contract negotiations, which went into effect on 1 May, maintaining similar contracted volumes to last year with approximately 65% of our transpacific volume exposed to spot rates.” Listen now for a data-rich deep dive into the volatility redefining global shipping in 2026

The biggest growth sector in air cargo could face significant challenges if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is creating a new, and largely overlooked, risk for global supply chains: helium shortages. As hyperscalers race to build data centres and deploy AI servers, demand is surging not only for GPUs and semiconductor equipment, but also for helium – a critical industrial gas used throughout chip manufacturing and advanced computing infrastructure. But the disruption in the Middle East has removed a significant portion of the global supply of helium from the market, raising concerns across the semiconductor sector and creating volatility for high-value air cargo flows. Consultancy Aevean estimates data-centre components now account for some 1.4m tonnes of annual air cargo volume, or roughly 5% of the global market, following 39% year-on-year growth driven by AI infrastructure expansion. Cargolux chief executive Richard Forson warned that the implications of the Iran conflict could stretch well beyond oil and jet fuel. “Helium is used intensively in cooling down the data centres,” he toldThe Loadstar.“The shortage of jet fuel will be the least of our worries.” The comments come as cargo airlines increasingly see AI-related shipments becoming a major source of premium freight demand. Indeed, Mr Forson said one of the fastest-growing cargo categories was now “transportation of server racks, with the data centres being set up to facilitate AI development”. “Everybody is on the AI boom,” he added. The surge is being reinforced by semiconductor manufacturers themselves. South Korea’s SK Hynix said in its first-quarter results that “demand for high-performance memory is surging while supply remains constrained”. Meanwhile, Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC has warned that AI-related semiconductor demand remained “extremely robust” and that supply constraints were expected to continue into 2027. But the AI boom is colliding with a new supply chain vulnerability, one centred on Qatar and the Strait of Hormuz. According toForbes, Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is the world’s largest helium production hub, normally accounts for roughly a third of global helium supply, but has been heavily disrupted by the Iran conflict. The publication said the disruption had removed an estimated 27% to 30% of global helium supply from the market, with spot prices surging between 40% and 100% within weeks. The shortage is particularly significant because helium has few industrial substitutes and is critical for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, AI GPU packaging, lithography, and high-capacity storage systems. TSMC has already moved into contingency planning mode. The company reportedly said it was sourcing “specialty chemicals and gases, including helium and hydrogen” from multiple regions and building safety-stock inventories to mitigate disruption risks. Analysts increasingly warn that the AI boom is colliding with physical bottlenecks in packaging, energy, industrial gases, and logistics, creating what one industry observer described as “a physical ceiling” for AI infrastructure expansion. However, in its first-quarter results announced last month, TSMC said it expected to see a 30% hike in 2026 revenue, suggesting it could largely surmount supply issues. But South Korea is considered especially exposed, because last year it sourced nearly 65% of its helium imports from Qatar. And the crisis is also exposing the fragility of the US helium market.While it remains the world’s largest helium producer,Forbesnoted that much of the US’s strategic buffer capacity disappeared after the privatisation of the US Federal Helium Reserve in 2024. Tom’s Hardwarereportedthat around 200 specialised helium containers were stranded near the Strait of Hormuz after the conflict escalated, while some semiconductor manufacturers may only have several weeks of inventory available before shortages become critical. The irony for air cargo is that the AI boom is creating huge new freight demand at the same time as helium shortages threaten the semiconductor supply chains underpinning it. And it can be high-yield cargo: Mr Forson said server and electronics shipments needed more specialised handling than traditional cargo. “It’s handling that is going to be more diligent than for other cargo,” he said. Some analysts now believe AI infrastructure could become as strategically important to air cargo as ecommerce has been over the past decade. The result is that AI infrastructure is now reshaping not only semiconductor markets, but also global logistics flows, freighter demand, and strategic cargo planning. Listen to our recent podcast with Container Trades Statistics to hear a deep dive into the Q1 ocean freight dynamics!