Newsletter – February 27, 2024

AIR FREIGHT UPDATES

Consumers Scramble as Lynx Shutters on Monday; WestJet Steps Up
openjaw.com
The Canadian airline industry is about to have one less competitor, and Canadian consumers are scrambling.
The news that Lynx Air will roll up its operations on 26FEB at 12:01 a.m. MT sent shock waves through the Canadian business world, and leaves Flair Airlines as Canada’s only ultra-low-cost carrier.
The announcement came as Lynx said it had sought and obtained an initial order for creditor protection from the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Ocean Alliance deal extended to 2032
splash247.com
The Ocean Alliance group of container carriers has extended their partnership for another five years.
Founded in 2017 under a 10-year deal, the liner grouping comprised of CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping, Evergreen and OOCL has agreed to continue their vessel-sharing agreement until the end of March 2032. Read more here.

Attacks drive up Red Sea war-risk insurance premiums 900%
theloadstar.com
War-risk premiums may have increased by as much as 900% since the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea began.
This is one of several troubling predictions in a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report released yesterday. Read more here (login required).

Challenges persist, but operators see new freighter finance opportunities
theloadstar.com
Since Covid, investors have begun to notice freight – but the cost of financing has risen.
Last month, WFW Global Aviation in the UK advised on the acquisition financing of a 777F for Atlas Air. The company’s global aviation co-head and partner Jim Bell noted that Covid had offered an uptick in the performance of freight and logistics companies. Read more here (login required).

FMC tightens rules on charging container late fees
freigthwaves.com
The Federal Maritime Commission has imposed new billing standards on ocean carriers and terminal operators in an effort to crack down on abusive container late fees.
The new requirements focus on demurrage — fees charged by carriers and container terminals when full containers have not been picked up by customers within a certain number of days — and detention, the fees charged to customers if they are late returning the empty container back to the terminal. Read more here.

New container shipping line established in Saudi Arabia
splash247.com
A new feeder and short-sea shipping company has been launched in Saudi Arabia to link the kingdom with other key ports in the Red Sea.
The Riyadh-based Folk Maritime is headed up by former Hamburg Süd boss Poul Hestbaek, who left the Maersk company in August last year. Read more here.

GROUND & RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Railway workers warn ‘work stoppage looms’ after CN, CPKC seek conciliation
cbc.ca
The union representing more than 9,000 workers at Canada’s two biggest railways says public safety is at stake as contract negotiations ground to a halt this month, with a potential strike on the horizon.
Teamsters Canada president Francois Laporte said demands by Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. are “non-negotiable.” Read more here.