News

Container port congestion in China is spreading up and down the coast, as new liner-alliance schedules, added to poor weather, cause disruption to container shipping operations. As reported yesterday, Shanghai’s Yangshan terminals are experiencing lengthy delays and vessel queues. The most congested facilities at Shanghai are now suffering from berthing...

The world’s busiest container port, Yangshan in China’s business hub of Shanghai, is battling severe congestion wrought by dense fog, higher-than-usual volumes and the aftermath of a shake-up in shipping alliances, ocean carriers and port officials say. More than 100 container vessels are now waiting outside the port. The fog...

A planned indefinite major ports strike in India due to start on April 19 was called off to give time for further talks beginning today, according to local reports. Forwarders had expressed concern that the strike would further tighten already-busy air freight market conditions from the Indian subcontinent, with demand...

India’s labour unions, representing dockworkers employed at major ports, have announced an indefinite nationwide industrial action starting on April 19. The ports that are likely to be affected by the strike are Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Kandla and Marmugao. The...

The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) secretary-general, Kitack Lim, has urged the shipping industry to apply diligently the IMO guidance and best management practices to avert possible piracy attacks, in the wake of the hijack of the Aris 13 off Somalia. “While we have seen a very welcome decline in piracy...

German trade union Verdi has called for ground staff at Berlin airports Tegel and Schönefeld to strike today. The 24-hour strike, which is scheduled to begin at 4:00 am local time, is expected to have a considerable impact on air traffic to and from Berlin. Airberlin said in a statement...

A five-day French air traffic control strike triggered more than 830 flight cancellations in its first two days and, separately, Finnair has warned of considerable disruption on March 10. The walkout by French air traffic controllers, which started March 6, will run until March 10. Separately, Finnair warned that a...

As the Spanish government postpones voting on the port reform for another week, international dockworkers unions from neighboring countries are planning to join industrial action in support of their Spanish colleagues. As a result, Spanish dockworker unions said that they would call off the strikes scheduled for March 6 and...

Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan have agreed to work towards completing their portion of a planned freight railway route from Europe to South Asia, Iranian state media reported. After talks between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two countries signed an accord to link their rail...

A five-day strike by some French air traffic controllers has led to the cancellation of over 1,000 flights. Flights to and from French airports are affected, plus some flights using the country’s airspace, as controllers in Brest and Bordeaux strike until 7:00 pm on Friday. The strikers will be joined...