A container ship caught fire! It was loaded with Chinese goods and had been docked in Shenzhen and other places...

Breaking news! A container ship full of Chinese goods caught fire

Recently, a container ship, INTERASIA CATALYST, which was fully loaded with Chinese goods , was sailing when the containers on board suddenly caught fire. Pictures from the scene showed that the fire was raging and several containers had been burned and deformed.

According to Xinde Maritime News, the fire intensified on Friday night , and there was an oil hole connected to the oil tank below the fire. In addition, some of the smoke generated by the fire entered the seafarers' living area .

INTERASIA CATALYST currently serves the Southeast Asia India-Pakistan line. Its domestic ports of call include Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shantou, Shenzhen Shekou Port and Hong Kong. It is expected to arrive at Nhava Sheva Port in India on April 16.

Therefore, some cargo owners are very worried about their cargo on board: "This weekend is not peaceful again. I have cargo departing from Shanghai on March 23. I hope it will not affect my cargo and it is just a simple cargo delay."

As for the cause of the fire, some logistics companies analyzed that it might be caused by the concealment of dangerous goods and flammable items, so freight forwarders who conceal dangerous goods should be careful, as it may cause a disaster if they are not careful.

Some cargo owners and freight forwarders do not like concealment, but similar situations still occur. For some people, it is only because of profit that cargo owners take risks: "Usually, the price of dangerous goods container shipping on the same route is almost twice that of ordinary goods. With shipping costs so high today, there are many such cargo owners. In addition, the relatively chaotic market for classification and identification reports can also lead to similar outcomes. For the same batch of goods, the conflict between international dangerous goods regulations and domestic regulations can easily allow cargo owners to take advantage of loopholes."

According to Xinde Maritime News, the ship has been preparing for unloading operations at the anchorage today. As shown in the picture below, on the evening of the 11th, INTERASIA CATALYST was still on the sea.

According to professionals' predictions, the shipowner may declare a general average in the near future , but the owner of the Ever Given ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal has already declared a general average.

General average means that when the ship, cargo and other property encounter common danger during the same sea voyage , the special sacrifices and special expenses directly caused by intentional and reasonable measures taken for the common safety are shared by all beneficiaries in proportion. In simple terms, the cargo interest party has to bear the responsibility together with the shipowner, so it may be necessary to pay money before picking up the cargo.

While the claims for Ever Given have not yet been settled, another ship may suffer general average. Previously, general average happened once every few years, but now it may happen twice a year. This is not a good thing for sellers who ship goods at sea all year round.

Evergreen cargo ship incident pushes up global freight rates, with US-bound rates soaring to $17,000

Although the Suez Canal is now open to normal navigation, the impact of the Evergreen container ship accident on global shipping continues.

Not only has the price of containers to Europe increased significantly, but there is also a serious shortage of containers. In the next 6 to 8 weeks, the supply of containers will be very tight, and now it is not certain that you can book a container even if you have money. At the same time, affected by this, the freight rate to the United States has soared again, setting a record high of $17,000 this week.

There are reports that Asia-Europe container spot freight rates have "risen sharply" this week due to restrictions on vessel and equipment capacity in Asia due to the week-long blockage of the Suez Canal .

Today’s Ningbo Containerized Freight Index (NCFI) North Europe and Mediterranean sub-index jumped 8.7%, roughly in line with the 8.6% increase in the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).

“ Carriers have collectively pushed up prices for April sailings, with bookings rising sharply,” NCFI commented.

Freight rates from Asia to North Europe rose 5% this week to $7,852 per 40ft, according to Drewry ’s WCI index, but in reality shippers would pay much more if they could find a route that would accept bookings.

“Spot prices are rising and long-term or contract prices are effectively worthless,” said Westbound Logistics, a UK-based freight forwarder .

“With the current limited availability of equipment and reservations, it has become difficult to find lines with reservations, and when reservations are found, they disappear quickly if the reservation is not confirmed immediately.

To make matters worse, at a press conference yesterday, Rolf Haben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd , said: "In the next 6 to 8 weeks (that is, until June at the latest), the supply of boxes will be tight.

“We expect most services to miss one or two sailings, which will impact available capacity in the second quarter.”

At the same time, affected by the congestion in the Suez Canal, trans-Pacific freight rates soared again, setting a record high this week.

It is reported that Evergreen Marine's container freight rate from China to the eastern United States has reached US$17,000/FEU, and the freight rate will reach a higher level in the next few months.

On the transpacific trade lane, the Freightos Baltic Exchange (FBX) index from Asia to the U.S. West Coast rose 4% to $5,375 per 40 feet this week , up 251% from the same period last year; while the FBX index to the East Coast rose 2% to $5,868 per 40 feet, up 108% from the year before.

Also, the hitherto stable transatlantic trade lane is beginning to see some sharp rate increases.

In fact, the "rate hike" has spread to almost all trade routes, which will directly affect the bottom line of carriers. For example, COSCO Shipping said this week that it expects first-quarter net profit to reach US$2.3 billion, with its average rate up 55% from the fourth quarter of last year.

Suspended for 4 weeks! This China-US flight was suspended

Recently, the topic "10 positive cases detected on flight from New York to Shanghai" became a hot search on Weibo, attracting a lot of attention.

On April 8, the Civil Aviation Administration issued another fuse order, implementing fuse measures on China Eastern Airlines flight MU588 (New York to Shanghai).

According to the notification, there were 10 passengers on China Eastern Airlines flight MU588 (New York to Shanghai) that arrived on March 30 who tested positive for nucleic acid. Starting from April 19, the flight will be suspended for four weeks.

Flights that entered the route before April 19 can continue to be implemented. If the fuse mechanism is triggered during this period, the fuse time will be accumulated and calculated. The fuse-broken flights cannot be used for other routes.

Although the flights that have been melted are passenger planes, we know that the belly of a passenger plane can also be used for cargo. Although the carrying capacity is not as good as that of a cargo plane, and it cannot transport large goods, it is better than nothing. Therefore, after the flights are melted, it will have some impact on the seller's shipment to a greater or lesser extent.

logistics