Container carriers can recover from the losses they suffered in recent price wars by adopting more disciplined business practices, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, titled Charting a New Course: Restoring Profitability to Container Shipping, is being released today.

The operator of the world's largest container ship fleet, Maersk Line, said the shake-out in industry is not over. Maersk Line Asia Pacific's chief executive officer Thomas Knudsen told Channel News Asia trading conditions have improved but industry consolidation has a way to go.

Over 100 German ship funds have already shut down as the long-simmering crisis in global container shipping finally comes to a head. A further 800 funds are threatened with insolvency, according to consultants TPW in Hamburg. They are not alone. Britain’s oldest shipowner, Stephenson Clark, dating back to 1730, went into liquidation last week, closing the final chapter of Britain’s coal trade and the industrial revolution.

The decision of certain container shipping lines to reduce the free time available for import containers to be de-hired will increase international trade costs in Australia for both importers and exporters.Effective from 1 August 2012, Maersk Line, ANL, CGM-CMA, and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Container Free Time and Container Detention Tariffs have changed. In most cases, the import container free time period has been reduced from ten (10) calendar days to seven (7) calendar days.

A new research report confirms the Asia-Europe product 'Daily Maersk' is a powerful differentiator for Maersk Line as it continues to lead global container shipping lines in reliability. The report, a joint effort between ecommerce network provider INTTRA and container shipping analyst SeaIntel, examined the performance of the top 20 container lines in schedule reliability.

Greek shipowners have made a dynamic entry into the container ship market in recent months, as, despite the various ups and downs this section of the market has due to its own peculiarities, they appear to be quite shrewd at discerning significant investment opportunities.

Maersk is lifting container rates between New Zealand and the US in the first of what may be a series of price increases as the world's biggest container shipping line seeks a return to profit.The Copenhagen-based company is lifting rates by $US150 per 20-foot container and $US350 per 40-foot container starting on August 15. The level of the rate increase has not been specified.

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) gathered a group of clients together in Hamburg for a Forum to examine the latest developments in container stowage and transport. The Forum, one of many held by GL on a regular basis around the world, looked at how, in a time where the market is especially tight, added flexibility in container stowage could help to keep operators competitive.