Recent political turmoil and massive protests in Hong Kong have led to an unofficial labor strike today, Monday August 5, 2019. At this time, over 170 flights to Hong Kong have already been rerouted and/or cancelled, train stations are closed, and other major transportation routes have been blocked by the congestion. Most offices in Hong […]

Effective August 12th, Hong Kong Airport officials have cancelled all flights to and from Hong Kong until further notice, in light of worsening city-wide protests. At this time, it is unknown when authorities plan to resume regular airport operations. Per our Shap Flash on August 5th, most offices and major transportation routes have already been […]

The government of India has taken drastic action for the containment of Covid19. As of midnight, they have instituted a countrywide lockdown for 21 days. Please note the details below: Total nationwide lockdown effective March 24th at midnight through April 14th, all states included. All non-essential factories and services are closed, and employees are working from […]

Due to a shortage of container volume, Seagirt Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore will be closed next Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31. In addition to the closures, Seagirt announced that gate hours will be 6:00 AM to 4:45 PM from Wednesday, April 1 through Friday, April 3. Many U.S. terminals have […]

March 20, 2020 These certainly are challenging times for all of us. During this unprecedented pandemic, we have compiled a condensed update of supply chain conditions. The below is the status of events effective March 20, 2020. U.S. Domestic Trucking Conditions Driver supply remains solid with truckers hungry for work after Chinese New Year Driver […]

After an investigation into a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Port of Houston, we have confirmed that the Bayport and Barbours Cut Terminals will reopen tonight, Thursday, March 19, 2020, effective 7:00 PM. Terminal, gate and vessel operations are scheduled to be fully operational effective tomorrow, Friday, March 20, at 7:00 AM. Despite the brief […]

Due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Port of Houston, the Bayport and Barbours Cut Terminals announced that they are suspending operations temporarily. Port officials have yet to release additional information regarding the closures. However, customers with shipments routed through Port Houston may experience service disruptions and delays in the coming days as […]

As you may have heard over the weekend, UK and Ireland have been added to the Coronavirus travel ban.  As a result, shippers should expect several things: More flight cancellations starting this week (March 16) through April. Suspended airline tariff rates by many air carriers in favor of quoting ad-hoc. Virus screening ability at 13 […]

On Thursday, March 12th, American Airlines announced it would be suspending flights to the 26 newly restricted European countries within the Schengen Area beginning next week (March 14th – 19th) until May 7th or June 4th, depending on the lane.  American also announced that they will be delaying the start of their seasonal Rome service, […]

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) officially enters pandemic status this week, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on all passenger air travel from Europe to the U.S. beginning Friday, March 13th at 11:59 PM (EDT). According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), any foreign nationals traveling within or from the 26 European states that […]

Related to yesterday’s ShapFlash: in wake of the rapidly spreading Coronavirus, the Chinese government has decided to extend its Lunar New Year an additional 3 days– from January 30th to February 2nd – in all cities except Shanghai and Ningbo. In the Shanghai and Ningbo provinces, which are closer to Wuhan, the New Year extensions […]

The deadly Coronavirus, which has already negatively impacted trade, has now claimed up to 80 lives and infected over 2,700 people. Wuhan, which served as ground zero for the outbreak, is still actively in the process of cancelling events and imposing mandatory quarantines. In a report released this weekend, the Chinese government had already decided […]

China has commenced the process of reducing the number of ships calling the city of Wuhan in an effort to avoid the further spread of the Coronavirus, a deadly respiratory infection that first catalyzed in central China last week. A number of ships have been left idling along the Yangtze River, which serves as an […]

Chinese New Year (CNY) 2020 will commence on Saturday, January 25th.  As usual, it is expected to be accompanied by the typical pre-holiday surge and post-holiday deluge of blank sailings implemented by the carriers. Manufacturing in China will begin to cease as early as Thursday, January 16th, with most factories opening their doors again during […]

As referenced in our latest Freight Report, we are roughly 1 month away from the IMO 2020 effective date, which mandates that carriers must burn 0.5% very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) or operate vessels with exhaust scrubbers to meet IMO 2020 emissions regulations. In light of the above, carriers have begun implementing various surcharges […]

Effective Tuesday, November 19th at 12:10 AM, approximately 3,200 unionized conductors and railyard workers from Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) organized an official labor strike against Canadian National (CN). Although reports indicate that representatives from both Teamsters and CN have already sat down with federal mediators in an effort to create a deal to replace […]

By now, you may have learned that 17 metric tons of cocaine have been seized from the MSC Gayane by federal authorities on Tuesday, June 18th, at Philadelphia’s Packer Marine Terminal.  MSC has since been notified by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that their C-TPAT certification has been suspended for a period of […]

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have reached a tentative agreement to end yesterday’s planned labor lockout at the Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports, and will resume normal port operations effective this afternoon, Thursday, May 30th at 4:30 pm. Mediated negotiation efforts to end the lockout […]

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) released an official notice to the Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) indicating its intention to lockout dockworkers at the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert beginning Thursday, May 30th at 8:00 am. The announcement trails the continuously tumultuous contract negotiations between BCMEA officials and ILWU […]

Several carriers have already announced upcoming Trans-Pacific blank sailings for June. The OCEAN Alliance, including CMA (including APL), COSCO (including OOCL) and Evergreen, will remove approximately 25,000 TEU from its Trans-Pacific trade lane in June (this represents over 6% of total capacity). The news comes amid declining demand due to the low volume of Chinese […]