Greek owner Minerva Dry is stepping deeper into the container sector, ordering a new series of 3,000 teu ships in China — its largest boxships to date.

A South African court has dismissed a legal challenge by AP Moller-Maersk’s terminal arm against the award of a key port concession to International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI), paving the way for the Filipino operator to take control of Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2, the country’s busiest container facility.

Israel’s XT Shipping has returned to the newbuilding market with a pair of containerships in China.

Major container feeder vessels firm Contships Logistics Corp. has agreed to extend its charters with the Marseille-based container shipping line CMA CGM for two vessels, the 1,256 TEU Contship Ace and the 1,072 TEU Contship Zen, for a term of 21 to 24 months. The gross daily charter rates are $16,500 and $15,500, respectively.

China announced Friday that starting Tuesday it will begin charging US ships for docking at Chinese ports, in retaliation for Washington’s imposition of fees on Chinese vessels entering US ports.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would impose a 100% tariff on China “over and above any tariff that they are currently paying” effective November 1 or sooner – massively escalating his trade war amid a heated dispute over export controls on rare earths.

In accordance with the assessment of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors, the container rates this week continued their weekly decreasing tendency. As it is mentioned, their composite World Container Index decreased by 1% to $1,651 per 40-foot container.

Royal Wagenborg confirmed that the refloating operation for its vessel Thamesborg was successful, and the ship will be proceeding to exit the Arctic to a port of refuge. The vessel had been stranded for 33 days after grounding on September 6 in the Franklin Strait off Prince of Wales Island, Canada.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board is advising mariners to keep in mind the differences in stability between flatbottomed barges and seagoing hull shapes. A properly-loaded barge is highly stable at low angles of heel, but its righting moment tails off sooner and more abruptly than a ship's, leaving it vulnerable to capsizing once tipped - as experienced by the crew of the Arctic sealift ship Sivumut at Iqaluit, Nunavut two years ago. 

The key waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans reported strong increases in revenues and transit numbers.