Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

North American west coast container flows are showing signs of a structural shift – with Canadian ports gaining market share at the expense of their US rivals, according to Sea-Intelligence. Looking at Q1 26 throughput at the major west coast gateways, the analyst noted “a significant cargo migration northward”, with Prince Rupert and Vancouver the principal beneficiaries. While overall NAWC laden import volumes fell 3.9% year on year in Q1, the contraction was almost entirely seen at US ports, with every major gateway reporting volume declines. The Northwest Seaport Alliance grouping suffered the sharpest drop, of 18%, followed by Oakland (-6.8%), Long Beach )-5.6%), and Los Angeles (-3.6%). Sea-Intelligence said the figures pointed to “a deliberate” rerouting by shippers and carriers northward, driven partly by the US-China trade war and concerns over US west coast congestion and labour disruption. Indeed, Vancouver recorded a 9% Q1 rise in laden imports, to more than 491,000 teu, while Prince Rupert posted 7.8% growth. The analysis also underscored a broader weakness in transpacific import demand, volumes slipping from around 3.63m teu in Q1 25 to 3.49m teu. “The flatlining of NAWC laden import volumes over the past three quarters is quite obviously a consequence of the US trade war,” said Sea-Intelligence, noting that Canadian ports were also benefiting from shippers’ “proactive risk-aversion strategies”. However, growth in North America’s laden exports was positive across every major west coast port in Q1, volumes rising 2.4% year on year, to approximately 1.27m teu. But while Prince Rupert recorded the strongest increase, surging 17%, Long Beach and Los Angeles posted gains of just 3% and 2.2%, respectively. Sea-Intelligence said the export performance provided “a critical macroeconomic counterweight to the cooling import environment”, suggesting North American agricultural and industrial producers were “finding renewed traction in overseas markets”. Meanwhile, Southern California’s persistent empty-container imbalance continues to weigh on operational efficiency, noted Sea-Intelligence. Los Angeles and Long Beach together handled around 1.68m empty export teu in Q1, compared with just 654,000 laden export boxes. “This staggering 2.58:1 ratio of empty to loaded exports demonstrates that the economics of transpacific shipping remains heavily skewed,” the analyst said. And carriers continue to prioritise the rapid repositioning of empty containers back to Asian manufacturing centres rather than waiting to load lower-margin US exports, particularly agricultural cargo. Long Beach exported nearly 890,000 empty containers against only 301,000 laden exports, while Los Angeles shipped almost 800,000 empties compared with 353,000 loaded boxes. Sea-Intelligence argued the imbalance underscored a growing conflict between carrier priorities and terminal efficiency. “Carriers prioritise rapid equipment turnaround, often finding it more profitable to rush empty boxes back to high-yield Asian origins than to wait for low-margin North American exports,” it said. “Conversely, ports seek to maximise revenue per crane move and yard slot.” Despite the imbalance, there were signs of marginal improvement in terminal density, as the repositioning of empties slowed slightly faster than the decline in laden volumes. Coast-wide terminal density increased, from 64.5% to 66.1%, year on year.

The Brazilian government has put forward proposals to allow container shipping lines to bid for the new Tecon10 greenfield terminal in the port of Santos. Under direction from the Brazil Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), shipping regulator Antaqpreviously ruledthat shipping lines would be barred from the bidding process, due to concerns about vertical integration, and operators of existing terminals in Santos, including APM Terminals, MSC, CMA CGM, and DP World, over concerns of competition concentration. However, Brazil’s Investment Partners Programme (IPP), a body running the country’s public-private investment projects, last week sent a technical note to the Ports Ministry,which was obtained by reportersatCNN, which declared that the TCU had failed to provide adequate reasons for excluding shipping lines. “In addition to not seeing competitive reasons to prohibit the participation of shipowners in the bidding, Antaq did not point out any regulatory reason for the adoption of this practice,” IPP officials wrote. “On the contrary, it concludes that such participation could result in productive, allocative, and social efficiencies,” it added. It also slightly relaxed the conditions for the Santos terminal operators to bid for Tecon10, on the basis that “it is important to clarify that the federal government does not have a policy of fostering new entrants to the detriment of current ones”. It explained that the new guidance was that APMT, MSC, CMA CGM, and DP World could bid for Tecon10 if they had “filed with the competent authorities the irrevocable and unalterable sale of their shareholdings in other terminals at the port”, before signing the new contract. That “addresses the risk pointed out of any player frivolously delaying the divestment, threatening operations”, it added. “If the said divestment does not occur, there will be no loss for the public authority, given that it will be possible to call the second-placed participant of the conducted bidding.” The IPP document added: “The greater the competition in the auction, the higher the chances of selecting the most efficient partner, one who reduces Brazil’s logistics costs, helping the production chain.” In addition, the R500m ($93.25m) minimum bid level, set by the TCU, has been doubled, to R1bn. The debate over bidding eligibility has persistently delayed the Tecon10 auction process. The RFQ documents were scheduled to be published last year, but are now expected to be released in the second half of this year, although there are fears it could be delayed until 2027. Tecon10 will see four new berths built in the Saboo area of Santos, at a projected cost of $1.1bn, providing the port with an annual handling capacity of 3m teu, and raising overall annual capacity by around 50%, to 9m teu. According to Santos Port Authority, the gateway handled just over 5.9m teu last year, a 7.7% increase on 2024.

Taiwan’s government is bidding to secure safe passage for eight stranded domestically owned ships out of the Strait of Hormuz. They include seven containerships, belonging to Evergreen, Yang Ming, and Wan Hai Lines. Using SeaSearcher,The Loadstarcould trace six: Evergreen’s 9,466 teuEver Lotus,8,488 teuEver Lovely,and 5,652 teuEver Unicorn;Yang Ming’s 2,940 teuYM Credibilityand the chartered 4,444 teuMarianetta;and Wan Hai’s 13,100 teuWan Hai A07. Maritime Port Bureau director-general Yeh Hsieh-lung said on Friday that the ministries of transportation and communications (MOTC) and foreign affairs (MOFA) met on Thursday to discuss responses to Taiwane vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf. MOFA has already initiated contact with the Iranian authorities and is simultaneously consulting with like-minded countries on their handling methods for future reference. Mr Yeh said: “MOFA will continue to attempt to communicate with relevant Iranian authorities, closely monitor the evolving situation, and maintain contact with the MOTC to jointly assist Taiwanese shipping companies. “The government is continuously monitoring the latest developments and conditions of the eight affected vessels daily.” Mr Yeh stressed that all 175 crew members on the eight vessels were safe and their supplies normal. Four of them are Taiwanese. Shipping consultancy Kpler said in a recent note that, of the 53 container vessels initially trapped when transits became untenable, only nine have successfully left the Strait of Hormuz. Two – Cosco’sCSCL Arctic OceanandCSCL Indian Ocean –required two attempts to make it through. Two MSC vessels, the 11,660 teuMSC Francescaand 6,660 teuEpaminondas,were seized by Iran, and the Hapag-Lloyd-chartered 3,200 teuSource Blessingsustained damage when struck by debris. Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd confirmed toThe Loadstarthat one of its ships, the 4,253 teuTema Express, had sailed out of the strait two weeks ago, but declined to provide details on how the escape was secured. The German operator’s spokesperson said: “We still have four [ships] in the Persian Gulf, with around 100 seafarers, as the charter agreement for one additional vessel has since expired, meaning it no longer belongs to the Hapag-Lloyd fleet.”

Britain’s logistics sector offers “great economic opportunities”, but for these to be realised government needs to “fundamentally reshape its understanding of the industry and the way it engages with it”, according to Logistics UK’s new CEO. Ben Fletcher (pictured) toldThe Loadstarthere was a need to stop viewing logistics as a “disparate collection of niche areas in need of regulation” and more as a driver of economic growth. “I think part of the challenge over the next two or three years, before the next election, is that we need government and the opposition parties to really understand the scale of the industry,” said Mr Fletcher, who recently reached 100 days in post. “It employs people in pretty much every constituency of the UK. In global shipping, road haulage, it offers careers for young people that are incredibly valuable, giving them huge amounts of professional training and the ability to earn well above-average salaries.” By recognising the connective tissue that runs across the country’s supply chain and, in turn, the influence this has on economic prosperity, he said the government would be better placed to properly regulate the sector. But Mr Fletcher also said that, while it would be “very easy to blame government” for difficulties faced by UK logistics operators, this was neither conducive to resolving issues nor reflective of the realities on the ground. “I think a lot of this comes down to the way in which policy is made. Many aspects of the industry are very regulated from a safety perspective, so policy-making often goes down a series of individual lines that helps accentuate that. “We are certainly not arguing to step away from the real focus on safety, but it means that often government looks at things from a series of very small perspectives, rather than at the global supply chain as a way to accelerate growth.” Pointing out that 2.5m people work in manufacturing, and government has made a real push on policy tethered to industrial strategy, Mr Fletcher noted there were 2.8m people working in logistics, and a policy on supply chain strategy offered growth potential too. “I think we need to try and make sure, given its scale, importance to the wider economy, and the number of people who work in it, we can attract that same focus on logistics, because that will help on policy issues across all the different silos,” he added.

Another crazy week over and still no end in sight for the Iran war. One news channel put it nicely, the escort mission “project freedom“ lasted less than a free Netflix trial. Thus, an armada of ships and their crews remain stuck and world trade for commodities out of the Gulf continues to be held hostage. Elsewhere British local elections gave prime minister Starmer and the Labour government in the UK a bad whipping; rumblings in the German government around the first ...

Sources in the Middle East have reported that Nabil Sultan, formerly of Emirates SkyCargo and currently EVP passenger sales and country management, is to take on a new senior leadership role within the group, following the release of its 2025/6 financial results last week. Mr Sultan led Emirates SkyCargo for 10 years, after replacing Ram Menem, before taking on the passenger role in 2024 – one well-placed source commented:“It’s a fantastic choice. “Nabil Sultan is taking over as CEO of dnata.” Dnata has confirmed the appointment withThe Loadstar, noting Mr Sultan will start on June 15. The news emerged as Emirates Group filed its full-year results. Mr Sultan will take overat a pivotal moment for the Emirates group’s cargo and logistics operations, as regional conflict, shifting trade patterns, and aggressive infrastructure expansion reshape the role of Gulf aviation. The appointment comes after a year in which cargo and airport operations emerged as key growth drivers for Emirates Group, with dnata handling 3.2m tonnes of freight globally, and Emirates SkyCargo contributing AED16.2bn ($4.4bn) to airline revenues. The group’s full-year report, out last week, also revealed more about the carrier’s operations during an “extremely challenging March”, when military activity involving Iran, Israel, and the US disrupted Gulf airspace, forcing airlines and logistics operators across the region to rapidly reconfigure operations. The group said Emirates and dnata had “quickly mobilised” after the outbreak of conflict on 28 February, restoring operations via safe air corridors, while prioritising cargo flows into and through the UAE. By the end of March, Emirates had restored connectivity to 122 destinations in 65 countries and ramped up cargo operations to maintain the movement of essential goods. The report said the Emirates fleet of 13 B777 freighters had “never been busier”, while the carrier temporarily reassigned 14 passenger aircraft to cargo-only operations. April saw it field 15% more freighter capacity than in March, with new destinations appearing as the carrier looked to be flexible in the face of significant challenges. The airline also established new trucking routes and multimodal corridors across the UAE and wider region to keep supply chains moving during the disruption. The group acknowledged it was “too early to tally the impact of the war” on its balance sheet, warning that markets remained volatile amid concerns over fuel supply, travel advisories and reduced intercontinental capacity through Gulf hubs. Emirates SkyCargo also continued expanding beyond traditional air freight, launching Emirates Courier Express, a door-to-door cross-border delivery product aimed at the fast-growing ecommerce market. The cargo division additionally introduced dedicated aerospace and engineering logistics products, expanded its freighter network to 44 destinations, and took delivery of five new 777Fs during the year. Meanwhile, dnata, under Steve Allen – who has headed the company for more than five years – has continued to expand aggressively internationally, with 77% of revenue now generated outside the UAE. The company also accelerated investment in cargo infrastructure, automation, and logistics technology. Among dnata’s biggest recent investments was the opening of its highly automated Cargo City Amsterdam facility at Schiphol, capable of processing more than 600,000 tonnes a year, although the transition to the new terminal did trigger disruption and congestion as the company grappled with integrating multiple new automated systems. In Italy, dnata committed more than €25m to a new cargo facility at Milan Malpensa, and €20m in new ground support equipment in Rome. The company also expanded its logistics footprint through the acquisition of Australia-based Wymap Group, adding domestic trucking and freight capabilities across Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, automation is increasingly central to dnata’s strategy. During the year it deployed autonomous electric baggage tractors at Dubai World Central, launched a smart cargo screening hub at DXB in partnership with Dubai Police, and expanded its use of AI-driven operational planning systems. Another source said the appointment of Mr Sultan was “a smart move” by the group.