December 22, 2023 – After a month of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the number of boxships diverting away from the Red Sea-Suez Canal route is reaching epic proportions, according to supply chain insiders. This backbone of east-west trade is suddenly taking a back seat to the traditional route around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds 1,900 nautical miles and 10 days onto a typical Asia-North Europe container service. According to various sources, there were about 120 container ships totaling 700,000 TEU taking the Cape route as of Wednesday morning. This passage is made regularly by VLCCs and Capesize bulkers, which cannot fit through the Suez Canal, but is almost never used by boxships with their valuable and time-sensitive cargoes. The only other time in recent shipping history when boxships made a mass U-turn towards Africa’s southern tip was in 2021, when the boxship Ever Given went aground and fully blocked the Suez Canal for five days. We will advise our Canaan customers individually but please be advised that additional charges and delays will likely be incurred.
December 18, 2023 – Shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd both confirmed on Friday that they have paused all planned transits of the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, while the shipping industry is calling for immediate actions and a stop to the “flagrant breach of international law” that is risking the lives of seafarers and global trade. The actions came after the recent escalation, which saw a missile land close to a Maersk containership on Thursday, a confirmed strike on a Hapag vessel on Friday, and two MSC containerships targeted by the Houthi with one possibly struck.
December 11, 2023 – Confidence in the Panama Canal to process container vessel transits appears to have completely bombed over the past week. “Multiple carriers have revealed changes to imminent voyages by removing the Panama Canal, signalling a continued loss of confidence in the passage in the weeks to come,” said eeSea operations and forecasting analyst Destine Ozuygur. However, expectations that this might result in an increase in vessels transiting the Suez Canal have been dented by the recent attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi rebels, off the coast of Yemen.
“It seems many vessels that had originally planned to utilize a divergent route through the Suez Canal are now avoiding the area for fear of the safety of their crew and the vessels,” Ozuygur said. “For the first time in recent memory, we could possibly see a significant downturn of traffic through the Suez and the Panama canals, with a high volume of vessels preferring passage past the Cape of Good Hope."
December 4, 2023 – The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s board of directors has appointed Peter Xotta as president and chief executive officer, effective Monday, December 4. This appointment follows a comprehensive and competitive global executive search process facilitated by Korn Ferry. Peter most recently served as vice president, operations and supply chain for the port authority, where he was responsible for land and marine operations, health, safety and security, and port and supply chain optimization activities. Congratulations to Peter on this appointment!
November 29, 2023 – A bottleneck at the Panama Canal due to low water levels has prompted shippers to divert to the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope or even through the Strait of Magellan off the tip of South America. The Panama Canal Authority, which normally handles about 36 ships a day, announced on October 30 that it will gradually reduce the number of vessels to 18 a day by February 1 to conserve water heading into the dry season. Panama had the driest October on record due to a drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, the authority said.
November 20, 2023 – The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) has provided an update on negotiations at the Port of Montreal toward a new labour agreement. The current agreement will expire on December 31. The MEA filed an essential services request to the CIRB. CUPE Local 375 executives were granted until November 17 to respond. The MEA has 10 days to respond to the union’s submission, bringing the next steps in the request process to around November 27. The MEA, union and conciliators have met three times and have four meetings scheduled in the coming two weeks. The MEA said its objective remains a negotiated collective agreement.
November 13, 2023 – Australia’s biggest ports operator, which has been the target of a cyberattack, has begun gradually restarting its operations, but key exports could be subject to prolonged delays. DP World Australia closed its Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle port operations after detecting the breach on Friday, leaving cargo and containers stuck on the docks. The company disconnected its internet, which stopped ongoing unauthorized access to its network. This also resulted in key systems linked to its port operations not functioning normally.
November 3, 2023 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced on November 2 the ratification of a three-year collective agreement with its 360 unionized employees represented by Unifor. After the resumption of navigation at 7:00 am on October 30, SLSMC teams worked with marine industry partners to clear the backlog of waiting vessels throughout the system. By November 1, the reopening plan had been fully implemented.
October 30, 2023 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) and the union representing 360 unionized employees reached an agreement that ends the strike that began on October 22. The agreement will have to be ratified by employees in the coming days. Employees were expected to return to work this morning
October 20, 2023 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) was served with a 72-hour notice to strike by Unifor on October 18, for locals 4211, 4319, 4212, 4323 and 4320. The union intends to begin strike action as of 00:01 on Sunday, October 22. As a result of Unifor’s strike notification, SLSMC has started implementing its detailed plans for an orderly and safe shutdown of the system within the 72-hour notice period. Should the unionized workers proceed with strike action, the St. Lawrence Seaway will be closed to all traffic.