A fleet commander in the Indonesian Navy has said that about 90 percent of piracy cases in the Malacca Strait area turn out to be bogus claims related to insurance fraud or business competition.

The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index fell into a fifth consecutive month of decline in October. Significantly, the index has now fallen beneath the neutral 50 point mark for the first time since January 2013, with confidence in both the sea freight and airfreight markets plummeting. The Logistics Situation for airfreight was especially bad, declining by 3.2 points to 45.7. The same trends that influenced last month's decline are persisting, with weak emerging market growth, China's financial crisis, and the Chinese shift towards domestic consumption all influencing the trajectory of the index.

With U.S.-led sanctions expected to be lifted soon as part of July's nuclear deal, Iran has unveiled a $120bn fleet expansion campaign.

Container service reliability across the three main East-West trades reached a new data series high in September, rising by 6.5 percentage points over August to the new record of 79.9 percent, according to Carrier Performance Insight, the online schedule reliability tool provided by Drewry Supply Chain Advisors.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has set a new historical tonnage record, welcoming 340.8 million Panama Canal tons (PC/UMS) through the canal in the 2015 fiscal year.

The Nicaragua Canal project has been dealt another setback amid reports that construction will not begin until the first quarter of 2016 due to environmental mitigation measures.

The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index saw a fourth consecutive month of decline in September. While the Index, at 51.5, remains above the neutral 50 mark, times may be gloomier that the numbers alone suggest.