Ocean Transportation

Can a ‘Monorail’ for Containers Solve Port Congestion?

May 18, 2020

At a time when ports are suffering from severe congestion and scarcity of land, one designer of cargo-handling equipment is proposing a radical new way of moving ocean containers between ship and shore.

Mobile Power Plants Are Taking to the High Seas

May 5, 2020

Bloomberg

As economic lockdowns complicate efforts to bring electricity to every corner of the planet, one company is putting generation units on ships that can sit offshore and plug into local grids at short notice.

Global Container Shipments Set to Fall 30% in Next Few Months

April 23, 2020

Bloomberg

Warehouses are getting so full of goods like fridges and washing machines that retailers are asking shipping companies to push back deliveries.

Global Food Exports Get Paralyzed by Problems for Ports

Global Food Exports Are Paralyzed by Problems at Ports

April 14, 2020

Bloomberg

The port backups that have paralyzed food shipments around the world for weeks aren’t getting much better. In some places, they’re getting worse.

With Shipments From China Resuming, Retailers’ Imported Goods Have No Place to Go

EDITOR'S Q&A

With Shipments From China Resuming, Retailers’ Goods Have No Place to Go

April 9, 2020

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

The coronavirus outbreak has forced the cancellation of many shipping services from China, and the effects of that disruption will be felt for some time to come.

Ship Crews Stuck in Lockdown Strain Global Supply Chains

April 8, 2020

Bloomberg

Port restrictions and canceled flights are straining the ability to replace seafarers on board ships, further weakening global supply chains already snarled by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hottest Trade in Commodities Is Finding Space to Store Them

April 1, 2020

Bloomberg

The cost of storage is exploding, in sharp contrast to the price of the commodities themselves, which are collapsing amid the chaos of the coronavirus.

EDITOR'S Q&A

The Impact of the Coronavirus on Global Trade: Now and Tomorrow

March 24, 2020

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

The coronavirus outbreak is having a serious ripple effect throughout global supply chains. Factories have shut down, product flow in many cases has come to a halt, and consumer purchases of all but the most essential items are plummeting.

There Aren’t Enough Containers to Keep World Trade Flowing

March 19, 2020

Bloomberg

A shipping container shortage that’s left everything from Thai curry to Canadian peas idling in ports may be about to get a whole lot worse as China steps up its precautions on incoming vessels.

Warning Bells Sound for U.S. Economy As Virus Squeezes Ports

March 12, 2020

Bloomberg

While the global economy is reeling from the spreading coronavirus, seaports — which handle a hefty 90% of all world shipping — are a bellwether for trade.