Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

Key takeaway: The carrier’s challenge to a record $45.6m reparations award isn’t just about one case – it’s a test of whether the agency’s adjudication system can survive the post-Jarkesy legal landscape. On 5 May, lawyers for Orient Overseas Container Line filed suit in US District Court in Houston, Texas, seeking to overturn the largest reparations award in Federal Maritime Commission history, a $45,600,599.25 judgment in favor of the bankrupt estate of Bed Bath & Beyond (BB&B). The shipping ...

Apparently, the reverberations from the war in the Middle East have not dented the fortunes of air cargo carriers moving freight out of Central and South America (CSA), despite the dizzying surge in aviation fuel costs. Statistics from WorldACD show that in the 1-21 April period, chargeable weight departing from airports in the region was up 4% over the same period in 2025. With the exception of the Middle East & South Asia market (down 29.5%) and Europe (-0.8%), exports were up, led by a 32.5% jump in traffic to Asia Pacific. Volume to Africa rose 16.6%, and to North America +2.8%. However, regulatory tensions between the US and Mexico could yet cloud parts of the North American picture. Washington this week said restrictions on Mexican carriers would remain in place until their government implemented reforms to bring it back into compliance with the 2015 bilateral air transport agreement, highlighting lingering concerns over market access and slot allocation at Mexico City. For now, though, there is little sign the dispute has materially dented cargo flows across the region. Predictably, tonnage from the CSA region surged 19% week on week in the 20-26 April period, as the annual avalanche of flowers from Colombia and Ecuador to the US and Canada in preparation for Mother’s Day kicked in. Airlines were ready for the surge, boosting their capacity out of CSA by 8% over the prior week. Capacity out of Latin America has continued to rise. On 3 May, LATAM Cargo started a freighter connection between Caracas and Miami. Two weekly flights, on Sundays and Thursdays, provide about 100 tonnes of weekly lift on the route. According to the airline, the service was launched in response to demand for connectivity between Venezuela and the US. Avianca, which launched A330 freighter service between Bogotá and Caracas in March, continued its build-up of capacity to North America with five new weekly freighter services on the Quito-Miami route. The Latin American carrier is not fielding its own metal on the route, instead using the capacity of Amazon Air Cargo flights on the sector, deepening its partnership with the ecommerce giant. This is the second sector where Avianca uses Amazon lift to the US, following Bogotá-Miami. “Since we began our commercial relationship with Amazon Air Cargo in 2025, with the Bogotá–Miami operation, we have been building a solid, long-term relationship. Ecuador’s addition to this service is a key milestone in our value proposition for exporters, particularly in the perishables segment, through a more robust, reliable operation aligned with their logistics needs,” commented Avianca Cargo CEO Diogo Elías. Ecommerce continues to power air cargo developments in South America. Last month, LATAM Cargo completed the expansion of its cargo terminal at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport to create more dedicated space for this sector. Airport operators are also beefing up their ecommerce capabilities. At Viracopos, São Paulo’s second major aviation gateway, a former passenger terminal was modified to serve as a cargo facility for Tub Express, which opened for business in February. RIOgaleão, which holds the concession for Rio de Janeiro’s Tom Jobim International Airport, is in the process of doubling the size of the ecommerce zone in its warehouse in response to rampant growth in this sector. Prompted by rapid expansion of ecommerce imports and the prospect of expanding this business beyond Uruguay to neighbouring countries, Latin America Cargo Centre, which runs the cargo operations at Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport, is building a three-storey, 5,000 sq metre facility, expected to be ready by late October. It is geared primarily to ecommerce, with additional space for other companies looking to avail themselves of the airport’s FTZ status. The flow of parcels into South America has boosted capacity, which has softened the impact of rising rates triggered by the stratospheric cost of aviation fuel, now at twice the level seen a year ago. Federico Calvo, director of Intermodal Logistics, reported that airlines had increased rates by 10% to 15%, and had pushed to raise fuel surcharges, but faced pushback from exporters unable to pass this on to customers. “Volumes to Asia are fluctuating, but ecommerce business to South America is helping keep some rates level, especially to China,” he said, adding that volumes from the southern cone had been steady. WorldACD numbers for 1-21 April show overall airfreight pricing out of the CSA region rose 7.7% year on year, driven by higher rates to all regions bar Asia Pacific, which registered a decline of 10.2%. Pricing to North America was up 4.9%, and was bound to rise further the following week as flower exports for Mother’s Day kicked in. Mr Calvo has doubts over whether pricing can be contained, however. If the situation in the Strait of Hormuz continued, pressure on rates would increase, as airlines cannot recover their fuel costs, he warned.

Maersk has warned that a rapidly escalating fuel cost shock is becoming a dominant force in container shipping, as disruption in bunker markets drives up costs and reshapes operations. Speaking on its first-quarter earnings call, chief executive Vincent Clerc described the situation as “unprecedented, both in terms of size [and] the speed at which it has unfolded”, with the group facing around$500m a month in additional costs. While the impact on Q1 earnings was limited, due to timing effects, Maersk said the full financial hit would emerge from the second quarter, when higher fuel costs flow through its accounts. The cost surge is being driven by more than rising crude. Maersk pointed to tightening bunker availability, regional price dislocations and the need to reposition fuel across its network. “We have responded to fuel shortages… by redistributing available fuel from North America and Europe,” Mr Clerc said — effectively moving fuel between regions to keep vessels supplied. This reflects growing pressure on bunker markets, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, where supply has tightened amid wider geopolitical disruption. The escalation of tensions in the Middle East has compounded the problem, with Maersk suspending operations through key chokepoints and halting plans to return to Red Sea routings. Longer voyages via the Cape of Good Hope are increasing fuel consumption, while supply constraints are forcing carriers to rely on onboard and stored reserves. Bunker availability had come “under pressure”, Mr Clerc said, even as oil prices surged. Maersk highlighted several drivers behind the spike: bunker prices rising faster than oil benchmarks; widening regional price premiums; added logistics costs from repositioning fuel; and tight tanker markets pushing up transport costs. Together, these are pushing fuel costs well beyond normal expectations. So far, Maersk has been able to recover the increase. Spot rates have risen about 40% since late February, broadly matching the jump in operating costs. “We are recovering [the cost increase] in full today, even in an oversupply market,” Mr Clerc said. However, this depends on demand holding up and industry discipline on pricing. The fuel shock is already influencing operations. Maersk indicated it may increase slow-steaming if high bunker prices persist. The result is an unusual market dynamic: despite structural overcapacity, carriers are pushing through higher rates to offset rising costs. But the balance is fragile. If demand weakens, or pricing discipline breaks down, carriers risk being unable to pass on fuel costs, exposing margins to renewed pressure. For now, Maersk says it can manage the disruption through commercial and operational measures. But, as Mr Clerc warned, the scale and speed of the energy shock has left the industry navigating an increasingly volatile environment.