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Wednesday 25 August 2021

Depth Dims - The Ultimate Transportation Dimensions Database

 


In the thirty or more years of shipping RoRo cargo our Depth RoRo team have gathered a huge database of heavy machinery and vehicle dimensions.

We have now made this publicly available online for free and dedicated three team members to constantly develop it into the ultimate transportation dimensions database available anywhere.

Depth Dims has dimensions and weights available for cars, buses, trucks, cranes, forklifts, utility vehicles, construction equipment, mining equipment, trailers, motorhomes, military vehicles, farm equipment and forestry equipment plus more.

Please check it out.

All for now,

Brad Skelton

Tuesday 3 August 2021

The World Container Index is up by 640% per 40ft container annually in some trade lanes

Space on ships is at a premium globally currently and there seems to be no relief in sight as the the Christmas peak season approaches. 

Drewry released this data this week that I thought my readers would be interested in seeing the spike in container freight rates globally.

Containers are one aspect of global shipping but multi or special purpose vessel rates are now also higher than the 2008 peak which at the time we thought may never be surpassed.

Drewry World Container Index


The composite index increased 4% or $344 this past week, and also, remains 368% higher than a year ago.

The average composite index of the WCI, assessed by Drewry for year-to-date, is $6,090 per 40ft container, which is $3,957 higher than the five-year average of $2,133 per 40ft container.

Drewry’s composite World Container index increased by 4% or $344 to reach $9,330.28 per 40ft container, which is 368% higher than the same week in 2020. Freight rates from Shanghai to New York soared 13% or $1,562 to reach $13,434 per 40ft container, a change of 300% Y-o-Y. Spot rates on Shanghai to Los Angeles increased 6% or $550 to $10,503 for a 40ft box. Similarly, rates on Rotterdam to New York grew 5% to $5,624 per feu. Freight rates on Shanghai to Genoa and New York to Rotterdam remain stable at previous weeks level.

Spot freight rates by major route

I expect rates to keep increasing throughout 2021 as supply chains have been interrupted by the virus and with far less international flights operating traditional air cargo is now moving by sea.


All for now,


Brad Skelton

Saturday 27 March 2021

Suez Canal Blockage of the "Ever Given" Stagnates an Already Chaotic Global Supply Chain

Not exactly the news that any shippers, carriers, and forwarders wanted to hear, but a grounded mega ship has paralysed the Suez Canal, the world’s most critical trade artery, instigating a serious build-up of traffic sending ripples of disruptions across the global supply chain that is already stretched to the limit.

The quickest sea route between Asia and Europe is gridlocked by a 400 meter long, 224,000 ton container ship, "Ever Given", operated by Evergreen, after it was knocked off course by strong winds and a sandstorm early Tuesday March 23. As gusts of wind that reached as high as 46 mph swept up dust and sand around it, causing the crew to lose control of the ship and sending the ship sideways, gridlocking the entirety of the channel.

Hundreds of vessels, mostly bulk carriers, container ships carrying consumer goods, LNG vessels, oil and chemical tankers have been delayed and are still waiting to cross the canal. Carriers, shippers, and forwarders have been forced to re-route cargoes around the much longer route around Africa. The world’s biggest container line, Maersk, said seven of its vessels had been affected so far, with four of them were stuck in the canal system, and the rest were waiting to enter the passage.

The global trade now fears prolonged delays will have a knock on effect for consumer goods, LNG, and oil prices, which were already volatile. Oil companies are starting to prepare for the worst. 

Efforts were underway to re-float the mega ship, raising hope of at least partial congestion to ease, but the operations attempts during the night had been suspended until this morning.

Putting the scale of things into perspective: the huge CAT loader, more than twice the size of humans, is merely a child's toy compared to the giant ship

The world’s supply chain industry sets their hopes on SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch salvage firm, to save the day. The best temporary solution, undoubtedly, will be pivoting the giant ship to position her alongside the Canal bank, and consequently allowing restricted traffic. However, given the massive weight of the mega ship, the salvors may have to reduce the weight by removing things like the ballast water, and unloading fuel.

If this situation drags on then vessels will be re-routed via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa which will cause huge increases in transit time, fuels costs and freight rates in an already supercharged freight rate market.

All for now,

Brad Skelton