Seaboard Marine has launched a new weekly service from New Orleans, connecting U.S. exporters to Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, in addition to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Time charter rates in the smaller chemical tanker vessel sizes are expected to remain stable over the next two years, but rates for the larger sizes, especially medium range (MR) vessels, will decline due to the impact of falling clean petroleum products (CPP) freight rates, according to the latest edition of the Chemical Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.

The Global Shippers Forum is calling for container shipping surcharges to be eliminated by 2020.

Dozens of port authorities and marine terminals received port security grants this summer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but millions of dollars from the $100m program went to local law enforcement agencies and other non-port entities.

Softening demand growth coupled with larger liner shipping alliances and bigger ships is moving the container ports industry towards a value sector from growth sector, albeit still highly profitable, according to the Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review and Forecast 2016 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.

CaroTrans, a global non-vessel operating common carrier and ocean freight consolidator, has added a second direct, weekly less-than-containerload (LCL) service between Milan and New York.