Shipping & Freight Resource

Verifying the legal identity of a supplier should be part of any cross-border transaction, regardless of where that supplier is based.. China presents a particular practical challenge because the English …

As we have repeatedly heard, seafarers are the backbone of global trade, enabling it to move across the world even when they themselves cannot move as freely.. Seafarers have been …

The Port of Los Angeles has just completed its busiest 3 consecutive months in its history, with the port handling 955,907 TEUs in August 2026, taking the combined volume for …

When a cargo owner needs to move breakbulk cargo, the first instinct is often predictable: Find a vessel. Get several freight offers. Compare the numbers. Choose the best price. On …

The Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has added some bulk to its business (pun intended) with the addition of BIMCO to its Board, bringing one of shipping’s largest membership organisations …

Drewry recorded 47 expected blank sailings from 729 scheduled East-West departures between 7 September and 11 October 2026.. Carriers remove weekly positions to match demand, recover schedules, reposition ships, manage …

Demand softening should normally be good news for shippers looking for freight space and perhaps some relief on rates.. But look around Asia Pacific this September and the picture is …

Car carriers use powerful mechanical ventilation systems to move fresh air through their enclosed vehicle decks and remove exhaust gases generated during loading and discharge.. The mushroom-shaped ventilators seen on …

Royal Wagenborg is strengthening its digital infrastructure across around 160 owned and managed general cargo vessels through a multiyear programme with De Boer Marine covering vessel connectivity, onboard IT and …

Project cargo shipping is rarely a routine freight exercise. Project cargo refers to large, heavy, high-value or complex cargo that cannot be handled as standard containerized freight and therefore requires …

The global trade ecosystem includes activities performed by various role players operating across the shipping, freight, maritime, logistics, supply chain, and trade industries.. By my estimate, there could easily be …

Warehousing used to be the line item nobody argued about. You signed a lease, stacked pallets as high as the forklift could reach, and moved on to the freight contract, …

I was recently talking about Trade Fitness to someone in logistics when they said something that stayed with me: “But we are in logistics, not trade..” I understood what they …

Freight rates are coming down.. So shipping should get cheaper.. Right..?? For the past few months, we have seen freight rates climbing on the back of tariff uncertainty, frontloading, capacity …

This was a question that I got as part of a writing prompt.. While several quotes stand out, especially as you get older, for me, undoubtedly it has to be …

We all know there is no shortage of IMO regulations governing international shipping.. Over the years, the IMO has adopted conventions, codes, resolutions, circulars, and mandatory requirements covering ship safety, …

South Africa has secured a US$1.5 billion Development Policy Loan from the World Bank to support infrastructure modernisation and economic growth.. Freight transport reform is one of the three pillars …

Shipping and Freight Resource extends its warmest congratulations to Adv Michelle Phillips, Group Chief Executive of Transnet, on being named KZN Top Business Woman for 2026.. Accepting the award, Michelle …

Warehouses and transport yards are remarkably forgiving places.. Throw enough people, overtime, temporary labour, phone calls, and spreadsheets at a problem, and most operations will somehow keep moving.. C3 Solutions’ …

Around 84% of APAC shippers who took part in a recent survey said that they experienced shipment delays at least monthly, and an equal % have changed shipment strategy frequently …

A trucking company collected an import container and chassis from the Port of Savannah.. When the equipment became available for return, the port was closed for 3 days.. The shipping …

South Africa’s transport and logistics system is at a critical point. Years of underinvestment in logistics infrastructure, together with the post-pandemic decline in rail and port performance, have weakened national …

The 44th Southern African Transport Conference opens today at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, running from 6 to 9 July 2026 under the theme Developing and sustaining transport …

There is no shortage of stories about what is going wrong in South Africa as a whole and specifically its logistics sector.. Port congestion, rail constraints, ageing infrastructure, and rising …

South Africa’s logistics system has had a difficult few years and decades, and few organisations have been more closely scrutinised than Transnet, the state-owned logistics infrastructure company responsible for the …

Every industry has its flagship events where competitors become colleagues, business conversations become partnerships, and achievements that often happen quietly behind the scenes receive the recognition they deserve.. For South …

Since 2008, Shipping and Freight Resource (SFR) has had one simple objective: to help the global trade community make better decisions through credible, practical, and independent content.. Over the years, …

Today, 25 June 2026, marks the “Day of the Seafarer” as it does every year.. For 2026, the theme is “Carrying world trade. Carrying the risks.” It is a painfully …

In March, Reuters reported that around 20,000 seafarers were stranded in the Gulf region as governments discussed the creation of a safe maritime corridor to facilitate vessel movements and improve …

South Africa’s logistics performance is usually discussed through ports, borders, transport corridors, infrastructure, and regulatory reform. These are visible pressure points, and they affect every importer, exporter, forwarder, customs broker, …

The sixth Container Port Performance Index has landed, jointly published by the World Bank Group and S&P Global Market Intelligence.. Covering over 400 ports worldwide from 2020 to 2025, it …

In bulk terminal operations, some of the most important equipment may also be unknown outside the industry.. One such piece of equipment is a Tippler.. It may not sound as …

The Asia-Pacific freight market is entering a period where cost pressures, fuel volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and operational disruptions are becoming increasingly interconnected.. While many shippers have spent the last year …

When hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) carried by sea cause damage, the cost can fall on public authorities, coastal communities, fisheries, ports, clean-up teams, and businesses with no direct contract …

China’s revised Maritime Code came into effect on 1 May 2026, marking the first major overhaul of Chinese shipping law since 1993.. The revised Code has 16 chapters and 310 …

Federal prosecutors in the United States have filed criminal charges against the operator of the cargo ship Dali, two years after the vessel struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing …

A vehicle move looks simple from the outside: collect the car, load it safely, and deliver it to the consignee. In practice, vehicle shipping sits at the intersection of capacity …

As geopolitical tensions continue to disrupt international travel networks, the maritime industry is once again facing mounting pressure around one of its most operationally sensitive areas, crew changes.. Flight cancellations, …

If you thought cargo theft was still about opportunistic break-ins at truck stops or the stolen containers, the latest cargo theft intelligence from BSI Consulting and TT Club paints a …

If you are managing freight today, you would have already felt it.. Capacity tightening without much warning, rates moving faster than your contracts can keep up, and routing decisions needing …

~20,000 Seafarers are paying for a war they didn’t want or choose.. We should all be ashamed..!! Twenty thousand human beings.. Civilian workers.. People with families waiting for them at …

Transnet SOC Ltd has announced the appointment of Mohammed Abdool as Chief Executive of Transnet National Ports Authority, effective 01 May 2025.. Mohammed Abdool brings over 29 years of professional …

I was fortunate enough to attend Bryan Adams’ “Rolling with the Punches” concert over the weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa.. My word, what a performance and performer..!! Somewhere between the …

Ten years ago, I wrote a little birthday tribute to the container.. It was a moment to pause and appreciate just how far this humble steel box had come since …

Supply chain teams are under pressure they haven’t felt in a generation. Tariffs, port congestion, and the whiplash of pandemic-era disruption have forced a hard look at where fulfillment networks …

In my previous article on Document of Title not equalling Ownership of Goods, I made the point that holding a Document of Title does not automatically make you the owner …

Multi-load food shipments are a common practice, but without the right precautions, it creates the perfect conditions for cross-contamination. Just one of these incidents can cost carriers and operators between …

Containers do not lie.. They show what is moving, what is not, and where the pressure points in global trade really are.. In this edition of Executive Insights, Lori Ann …

Nobody in shipping thinks of themselves as bad at documents. Forwarders send them. Brokers file them. Suppliers produce them. But the point where most import shipments lose time and money …

There are moments in this industry when numbers stop being just numbers and begin to represent something far deeper, and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), approaching a fleet of 1,000 ships …