It's no secret that the international shipping industry, even for all the supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks, did very well during the pandemic. There was a shipping demand boom, but now [...]
H. R. 2973, titled the Maritime Architect and Response to International Terrorism In the Middle East Act of 2023 or more simply the Maritime Act of 2023, passed both the House and Senate to be [...]
As always, we here at Universal Cargo are keeping an eye on international shipping news, so you don't have to. Two big items in shipping news right now are the upcoming peak season and the fight [...]
For the first time in a long time, real positive news on the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) contract negotiations broke yesterday. It was a localized agreement I'll talk about [...]
Want to know what's happening with international shipping right now? You're in the right place. Today's post hits top international shipping news stories affecting shippers' import and export [...]
Democrat and Republican lawmakers seem to have found something they can agree on: the international shipping industry, and ocean freight sector in particular, needs regulatory change. On Monday, [...]
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) claimed today to have reached a "tentative agreement" with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) on "certain key issues." Immediately, it [...]
Patrick E. McLean wrote in his book How to Succeed in Evil, "There is no such thing as coincidence, Topper. It is always, always your enemies conspiring against you." Shippers may feel that's an [...]
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach suddenly shut down Thursday night. The closure of the country's busiest port complex continued Friday. "Terminals noted they closed due to labor [...]
One of the things we often do in Universal Cargo's blog is give shippers an outlook for how the international shipping freight rate market is behaving and looks to behave. Over the years, [...]
Last week, four witnesses representing U.S. and international supply chain stakeholders appeared before the House's Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee to speak and be questioned [...]
ILWU Disruption & Contract Negotiations – Universal Shipping NewsWatch this video on YouTube Blog links to stories: 238 Trade Associations Write Biden to Mediate ILWU Negotiations [...]
Shippers have long complained about unfair detention and demurrage fees at the ports. A particular point of contention is getting charged for days when port terminals are closed, and it's [...]
A group of 238 state, local, and federal trade associations sent a letter to President Biden, imploring him and his administration to mediate the International Longshore & Warehouse Union [...]
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) released an images to the media of trucks backed up on Friday from a terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. Labor action by the International Longshore & [...]
Shippers may find themselves uneasy when they realize North American dockworker unions coast to coast will be negotiating contracts at the same time. As port disruption from labor slowdowns is [...]
What goes up must come down. Despite many experts saying we would never see pre-pandemic-level freight rates again when the cost of ocean shipping skyrocketed out of control during and after the [...]
Shippers, get ready for the freight rate war saga of the ocean carriers to continue. Perhaps the biggest reason for shippers to pay attention to what's happening with carriers is because it [...]
With great capacity comes great responsibility. And the international shipping industry is about to have a giant influx of ocean freight capacity. With the arrival of March, new container ships [...]
When the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) master contract expires, it tends to be bad news for U.S. shippers. Often, a great deal of the focus is on retailers importing from [...]
