ZIM ADDS NEW MEDITERRANEAN-US EAST COAST DIRECT SERVICES
Zim Integrated Shipping Services announced a restructuring of its Cross-Atlantic services linking the Mediterranean region with North and South America. The updated structure, to take effect in February 2025, will enhance service offerings by establishing two weekly service strings, one focused on direct routes from Mediterranean ports to Canada and the U.S. East Coast, and the other covering Latin America and the Caribbean via Kingston, Jamaica, connecting with Zim’s extensive feeder network. In a release, Haifa, Israel-based Zim said the service restructuring aims to maintain the carrier’s wide cross-Atlantic geographical direct coverage, incorporating additional key export ports in Turkey and Italy while expanding scope to the west coast of South America and the Caribbean. “This new service structure will ensure both reliable and efficient service to meet growing customer demand and reflect Zim’s ongoing commitment to optimizing its network,” the company said. The restructuring follows an announcement by Zim in September that it had entered into a new long-term operational cooperation with longtime operations partner Mediterranean Shipping Co. on the Asia-U.S. East Coast and Asia-U.S. Gulf trades. The new services also are scheduled to be launched in February 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.
CONTAINER SHIP COMPANIES TO PAY $102M IN BRIDGE COLLAPSE COSTS
The two shipping companies involved in the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge have agreed to settle a lawsuit with the federal government for $102 million. The settlement payment by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Private Ltd., which owned and managed, respectively, the containership Dali, resolves a $103 million damage claim by the U.S. The money will reimburse agencies that responded after the Dali collided with the bridge on March 26. Those agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Justice Department filed the claim on Sept. 18. The settlement is also separate from ongoing lawsuits filed against the two ship companies for negligence, including families of workers who were killed and shippers and transportation companies alleging significant losses to their business as a result of past and current supply chain disruptions caused by the collapse.
EAST COAST PORT EMPLOYERS, LONGSHORE UNION TO RESUME CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) in a joint announcement Friday said they will resume discussions on a new master contract in November. The union earlier this month sent 45,000 members to picket lines during a three-day strike that shut down container and vehicle handling at 36 East and Gulf Coast ports. The strike ended when Biden administration officials helped broker an extension of the previous master contract until Jan. 15, 2025. The sides then reached agreement on a 62% pay raise over the six years of a new pact, contingent on bargaining of other issues including the deployment of automation in port operations. The statement said negotiators will meet in New Jersey, where they will look to agree on terms for a new Master Contract Proposal that can be presented to the full ILA Wage Scale Committee for approval, and later, to ILA longshore workers for ratification. “The ILA and USMX welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table and get a new agreement in place as soon as possible,” they said. The sides added they will not discuss details of negotiations with the media prior to these meetings.
‘FOLDABLE’ CONTAINER COULD TRANSFORM GLOBAL BOX LOGISTICS
More than a fifth of containers are returned empty to their port of origin empty, according to estimates. CCS claims that the SeaFold 40′ box could potentially slash the cost of repositioning empty containers by 56%, save storage space by 80%, and drive down carbon emissions by 70%. Designed and built to comply with Lloyd’s Register and Bureau Veritas requirements as well as standards laid down by the ISO, the International Convention for Safe Containers, and the International Union or Railways, the SeaFold 40′ is compatible with all standard port lifting gear and container handling equipment. CCS Chairman and CEO, Charlie Santos-Buch, said: “The opportunity to place five of our folded containers in the same slot as one 40’ high-cube standard container is a game changer in managing container movements, maximising storage capacity, and greatly reducing carbon emissions. The SeaFold 40′ has wide-ranging implications all along global supply chains, with benefits clearly evident in road and rail transport and terminal storage and logistics.