Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

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!

Delegates at this week’s Container Supply Chain conference in Hamburg were reminded of the importance of inserting clauses into long-term contracts that would help them navigate periods of increasing geopolitical instability. Keith Gaskin, MD of SHIFTX UK, a cooperative of small-to-medium-sized shippers that negotiate with carriers collectively, explained how he had negotiated a clause in contracts that would allow shippers to renegotiate the agreed rate if the spot market “fell through the floor”. “We were in Asia in October and November, doing our annual contracting, and there was a lot of talk about Suez reopening, and we knew what was going to happen if it did – there would be overcapacity, and we all know what what the impact of that would be. “So, one of the things we discussed was not a Suez clause, as such, but if the underlying market dropped considerably, we could have re-entry into negotiations with the carriers if there was an underlying huge drop in the rates. It wasn’t as strictly a Suez clause, it was just on the underlying rate value,” he said. The usual tactic for carriers facing sudden declines in pricing is to reduce capacity, with blanked sailings typically the first resort. HFW partner Matthew Gore told delegates that shippers could also protect themselves against these sorts of disruptions. “It’s not only the blanked sailings, but there are other instances, such as landing containers in ports where they weren’t supposed to be; so generally we encourage shippers to build provisions into their contracts which give solid undertakings and commitments from the carriers of what they will do if there is a blanked sailing,” he said. “Again, it depends how you define that, but it could be a delayed sailing, a sliding, but you need to get a solid commitment from the carrier in terms of when that container will go if it’s rolled over because of a space issue – you want a solid commitment from the carrier of which ship it’s going to go on. “Is it getting on the next ship? Is it going to go on the next fastest one? You want to get your cargo from A to B, and you want to get it from A to B reliably, so it’s getting these things built into the contracts to make sure that you’re not stuck with your cargo still at origin when it should be on the sea or at destination,” he added. However, he also warned shippers that drawing up contracts could be a hugely protracted process. “One of the things we find is the sheer amount of time and effort it can actually take to actually get a contract together. We encourage clients to work across legal procurement and logistics to get input from all of those, so all of their interests are effectively covered within the contract, but then the amount of time it will take as part of the tender process that the big shipper puts out, then for the carriers to engage to feedback for their negotiations to happen. “This is often really underestimated, to the extent where we’ve seen contract negotiations going on for longer than a year, and effectively it means that the cargo is still moving, the rates are probably being honoured, but there is no effectively contract in place to govern this. “So if either party decided to kind-of go back on their obligations, you can’t actually point to the contract and say, ‘well, this is what we’ve agreed’, because the negotiations are still ongoing. Underestimating how long it can take to get these contracts in place is one of the biggest mistakes many shippers make,” he said.

China’s container manufacturing heavyweights are on the ropes, having been indicted by the US Justice Department (DoJ) for conspiring to fix prices and restrict equipment Ironically, the news broke just as President Trump returned from a visit to Beijing intended to thaw relations with China. Alongside seven executives, China International Marine Containers (CIMC), CXIC Group Containers, Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment and Singamas Container Holdings have been indicted over claims they colluded to limit container production and fix prices. US attorney for the Northern District of California Craig Missakian said: “These defendants, as alleged, sought to exploit a global pandemic to increase their own profits. We will not tolerate any attempt to manipulate free markets.” DoJ officials this week unsealed the indictment claiming a “multi-year conspiracy” resulted in the doubling of shipping container prices between 2019 and 2021 and a one hundredfold increase in the box manufacturers’ profits. Of the seven individuals involved, former Singamas marketing director Vick Nam Hing Ma was arrested in France in mid-April and is awaiting extradition to the US to stand trial – his arrest resulted in the decision to unseal the indictment His six co-defendants remain at large and include former CIMC, CXIX, and Singamas CEOs Boliang Mai, Yuqiang Zhang, and Siong Seng Teo – all are believed to be residing in China, except Mr Teo who is thought to be in Singapore. At the centre of the alleged conspiracy was an effort to artificially restrict the output of new containers hitting the market, thereby allowing the manufacturers to significantly ramp up prices. The impact of this became particularly pronounced within months, when lockdowns essentially stranded available equipment all over the world, exacerbating the shortfall and further spiking demand for new boxes to be made available. According to the indictment, those accused entered into a written agreement which required them to limit “the number of shifts and hours that each production line for standard dry containers could run per day” and prevent additional production lines being added to existing operations. Furthermore, this “Moon Gazing Fund Contract” required the conspirators to install CCTV… “in all production lines in March 2020” and to submit a deposit for each factory that would be lost if any factory broke the agreement. Reports have suggested that US authorities began tracking the companies’ prices in 2020 or 2021, withthe DoJ later blocking CIMC’s efforts to acquire Maersk’s reefer manufacturing unit, Maersk Container Industry,for $1bn in 2022. Had the deal gone through, it would have combined two of the world’s four suppliers of insulated containers, handed a 90% market share to Chinese state-owned enterprises, and “cemented CIMC’s dominant position in an already consolidated industry”, said the DoJ. Following the indictment’s unsealing, the share prices of all the indicted box manufacturers collapsed. Listen now for a data-rich deep dive into the volatility redefining global shipping in 2026

In the bull camp, a slew of equity research analysts still show plenty of confidence in the DSV equity story. They have little doubt: in Hedehusene, where DSV has been headquartered for over a decade, top dollar will be made. Just as it happened in the past 10 years, a period of time during which its value has quintupled. 100 Earlier this week, as reported by MT Newswires, Bank of America wrote: “Our discussions following the DSV CMD [Capital Markets Day] suggest investors ...

Intra-Asia container freight rates have reached a two-year high as the peak season (July-October) is brought forward and demand grows. Drewry’s Intra-Asia Container Index showed, on 15 May, rates averaged $939 per 40ft, up from $918 a fortnight ago, and 43% higher year on year. Also on 15 May, the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index showed Shanghai-South-east Asia rates averaged $570 per teu, up $7 on 8 May and 31% higher year on year. Drewry MD Philip Damas toldThe Loadstaroil prices were the most critical factor in intra-Asia rates. He said: “These changes continue to push up the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index week after week, and the index is now 70% higher than before the start of the Iran conflict, with no sign of softening spot rates as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.” Drewry’s senior consultant, Stijn Rubens, addedthat the upward trajectory of freight rates was encouraging front-loading. “Shippers are uncertain of future increases and are therefore ordering their goods earlier. This brings forward the seasonality of the peak season, rather than increasing demand overall.” Meanwhile, shipping lines have been launching more intra-Asia services to meet the demand. X-Press Feeders and OOCL have introduced a South China Java X-Press (SCJX)/China-Indonesia Service 3 (CIS3) service, using three vessels of up to 2,900 teu, on a 21-day rotation of Xiamen-Nansha-Jakarta-Surabaya-Yantian-Xiamen. And CMA CGM’s intra-Asia arm, CNC Line, recently offered a direct service to the North Sumatran port of Kuala Tanjung by introducing fortnightly calls at Kuala Tanjung to its South China-Straits-Bangladesh-Vietnam BBX3 service. The updated rotation is Nansha-Chiwan-Chittagong-Kuala Tanjung (fortnightly)-Singapore-Port Klang-Da Nang-Nghi Son-Haiphong-Nansha. It continues to turn in five weeks with five 1,700 to 2,200 teu vessels, with the 2,202 teuCMA CGM Fujimaking the loop’s debut at Kuala Tanjung on 11 May. The BBX3 also provides the Indonesian port with direct connections to Bangladesh, Vietnam, and China. Listen now for a data-rich deep dive into the volatility redefining global shipping in 2026

Cargo carriers are increasingly diverging on long-term fleet strategy as Boeing delays deepen, forcing ageing freighters into longer service alongside a growing need for larger cargo aircraft. Cargolux chief executive Richard Forson toldThe Loadstarthe Luxembourg carrier’s Boeing 777-8F deliveries had slipped from 2027 to 2029, forcing the airline to evaluate interim capacity options while remaining committed to Boeing. “We are a Boeing operator,” he said, explaining that operating a mixed Airbus and Boeing fleet “really makes no sense” for an airline of Cargolux’s size. His comments highlight a widening divide in the freighter market, some operators remaining committed to Boeing’s delayed 777-8F programme while others pivot aggressively toward Airbus’s rival 350F. Atlas Air earlier this year placed a landmark order for 20 A350Fs, becoming its largest customer and securing early delivery positions as replacement freighter capacity tightens. The strategy split is emerging as airlines face growing uncertainty over how to replace ageing widebody fleets just as AI infrastructure – and a need for larger freighters – becomes one of the market’s fastest-growing cargo segments. Flexport said in a webinar this month that AI infrastructure accounted for roughly 15% of air cargo demand growth last year and was expanding at nearly 50% annually, believing it would “most likely supercede ecommerce as the biggest driver” of freight demand. The forwarder warned that AI server rack shipments were already creating “cramps on direct capacity” on major tradelanes including Taiwan-US and China-US. It also noted that some AI server racks were now so large they increasingly required 747 freighters. “Server racks used to be around eight feet tall… now… nine feet,” Flexport said, adding they were increasingly dependent on 747Fs. That creates a growing contradiction for the market: demand for large freighters is rising just as replacement aircraft availability tightens and older four-engine aircraft become more expensive to operate. And IBA warned in a webinar this week that widebody freighter feedstock was likely to remain constrained “for the rest of the decade”, with Boeing’s delayed 777-9 passenger programme preventing older 777-300ERs from entering the conversion market. “The feedstock is stuck in the passenger market,” the consultancy said, addingthat the 777-9 delays had effectively created “seven years of extra life” for passenger 777-300ERs that would otherwise have been freighter-conversion candidates. At the same time, the consultancy noted that, “for the first time since 2009”, widebody freighter conversions had exceeded narrowbody conversions, reflecting strong demand for larger long-haul cargo aircraft. The market is also facing fresh geopolitical pressure. IBA said international cargo traffic in the Middle East had fallen sharply since March, while rates were running roughly 36% above last year’s levels because of disruption and higher fuel costs. “Four-engine aircraft are seeing margins being squeezed,” the consultancy warned. Yet operators may have little choice but to continue flying them. Mr Forson acknowledged that even ageing freighters, such as MD-11Fs, were continuing to operate because demand remained strong enough to justify their economics, adding:“Provided that there is shortage of capacity or an excess of demand to move goods by air, all the aircraft will continue to fly.” The result is a freighter market increasingly split between airlines prioritising fleet commonality and those seeking earlier replacement capacity wherever it becomes available. And with AI infrastructure demand accelerating, pressure on large widebody freighters may intensify long before the next generation of aircraft finally arrives. Listen to our recent podcast with Container Trades Statistics to hear a deep dive into the Q1 ocean freight dynamics!

Authorities across the Middle East continue to explore integrated trade corridors using multimodal solutions to keep cargo flowing without relying on port-to-port connectivity. The latest move is an agreement between the UAE’s Sharjah Ports/Customs and Oman Customs to connect with multiple ports in Oman – Sohar will be the primary gateway, with Duqm and Salalah for the intra-regional logistics framework. Authorities are claiming quicker customs clearance, competitive over-the-road freight costs and shorter cargo release delays as part of the integrated logistics programme, another example of how Oman has emerged as a critical corridor in evolving Persian Gulf supply chains. And the Sharjah-Oman overland link builds on a similar “green corridor” programme the Dubai and Oman Customs authorities instituted in early March. The Dubai authorities said it reflected “the spirit of cooperation and fraternal relations between the two sides”. According to available updates, following the green corridor arrangement, customs declarations had shot up from some 12,000 in March to approximately 100,000 in April. Under that multimodal plan, which works on both directions, shipments cleared through Omani ports are transported overland into Dubai via the Hatta border point. Goods arriving at ports in Oman are cleared in accordance with the sultanate’s customs regulations and procedures before a customs seal is fixed to the containers/trucks, the authorities explained. As multimodal activity makes rapid strides, Middle East port authorities are bolstering their landside infrastructure. AD Ports’ Fujairah Terminals yesterday inked three land lease agreements to develop additional backup areas. “The leased lands, with a combined area of 130,000 sq metres, will be utilised to enhance the logistics capabilities of Fujairah terminals, reinforcing Fujairah’s role as a key gateway for regional and global trade, and support the UAE’s position as a leading hub for logistics, maritime services, and industrial growth,” AD Ports said. And Maersk has announced some relief in the form of 15-day extended free time for containers that had overstayed at Salalah and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in the aftermath of the disruption. “As part of our contingency actions and to support customers during this period, we are implementing temporary line detention solutions to facilitate the timely return of empty containers and to provide greater flexibility to help you manage your supply chain,” the carrier told customers. But Maersk said the additional free-time window would be open only to local/cross-border cargo, covering both dry and reefer boxes, with no respite in the carrier detention tariff available for “change of destination” shipment cases. Meanwhile, there are no signs of any sort of a major freight rate cooling in the overheated India-Middle East market. Listen now for a data-rich deep dive into the volatility redefining global shipping in 2026