India has formally launched the Bharat Container Shipping Line (BCSL), a new joint venture aimed at carving out a national presence in global container shipping and reducing the country’s heavy reliance on foreign carriers.

The initiative brings together a mix of state-owned shipping, rail, port, and finance entities, with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by The Shipping Corp. of India (SCI), Container Corp. of India (CONCOR), Sagarmala Finance Corp. Ltd. (SMFCL), the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), the Chennai Port Authority, and the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority. CONCOR is estimated to have a stake of 30%; SMCFL, 20%; the JNPA, 10%; the Chennai Port Authority, 5%; and the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, 5%.

India intends to invest INR590 billion (US$6.5 billion) developing fleets of ships and container vans. BCSL is expected to become operational with a fleet of 51 containerships.

Construction will begin in fiscal 2026 (April 2026-March 2027) for a container yard at Y3 Berth of the Port of Tokyo’s Outer Central Breakwater Container Terminal, which is expected to become operational in fiscal 2028, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG)’s Bureau of Port and Harbor.

When Y3 Berth goes become available for use, Outer Central Breakwater Container Terminal will enhance its capacity by 450,000 TEUs, which will account for 10% of the total capacity at the Port of Tokyo, said an official. The bureau will, then, promote digital transformation and decarbonization by introducing electric remote-control cargo-handling equipment and so on.

Covering a total area of 23 hectares, Y3 Berth will have a quay length of 400 meters and a draft of 16 meters. Three gantry cranes capable of handling 22 containers and 17 rubber-tired gantry cranes are to be installed.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan’s Ports and Harbours Bureau has formulated guidelines for promoting fair business transactions. The guidelines recommend that in the port and harbor transportation business, fair prices be paid and received, and that unfair transactions be remedied.

The MLIT conducted a fact-finding survey on the port and harbor transportation business in June 2025 when developing an action plan for addressing port and harbor worker shortages, which projected chronic worker shortages. As for the payment and collection of rates and fees, many complained about insufficient price pass-throughs.

To improve such situations, it is necessary for shipping companies and shippers to have negotiations on an equal footing with port and harbor transporters. It is also necessary to pay and receive fair prices that reflect personnel and other necessary costs that are suitable for work conditions and environments.

As such, four meetings have been convened since September 2025 of a council for discussing guidelines for promoting fair transactions in the ports and harbor transportation business.

Cyber Port—an online platform developed and operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan’s Ports and Harbours Bureau—will collect user fees from April. Companies will each be required to pay ¥6,600 (US$43) per month no matter how many offices or users they have.

However, the service will remain free of charge until the number of transactions reaches 100 or the number of transactions is 10 or less within a month.

If companies only access Cyber Port for purposes other than making connections for trade documents, such as having chats, making various settings, and so on, such purposes will not be counted as transactions. If only data are provided in EDIFACT, a service only available for shipping companies now, and connections are made for documents as part of inquiries with terminals and warehouses, such will not be counted, either. However, they will be counted as transactions for terminals and warehouses that receive inquires.

In late May every year, Cyber Port will charge user fees of the previous fiscal year.

The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) decreased 5% from the previous week to $2,107 per FEU in Week 5, rising for the third consecutive week, primarily due to a drop in rates on the trans-Pacific and Asia–Europe trade routes. From a year earlier, the index was down 37%.

Spot rates from Shanghai to New York decreased 7% ($222) to $2,969 per FEU, and those from Shanghai to Los Angeles fell 4% ($104) to $2,442 per FEU. According to Container Capacity Insight, carriers have announced 63 blank sailings in February, up from 27 in January, as demand remains weak ahead of Lunar New Year factory closures. Drewry expects spot rates to continue to decrease further in the coming weeks.

Spot rates on the Asia–Europe trade continued to decrease for the third consecutive week, with rates from Shanghai to Rotterdam dropping 5% ($131) to $2,379 per FEU, and those from Shanghai to Genoa falling 6% ($227) to $3,293 per FEU.

On the trans-Atlantic route, spot rates increased 1% ($5) to $988 per FEU from New York to Rotterdam and 2% ($35) to $1,605 per FEU from Rotterdam to New York.

An enforcement proceeding involving Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) recently concluded with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC). The commission’s decision assessed a civil penalty of $22.67 million for three types of Shipping Act violations. The Commission’s Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance (BEIC), through its Offices of Investigation and Enforcement, investigated and prosecuted the matter.

BEIC’s investigation alleged that MSC had violated the Shipping Act over the course of several years. The first violation related to MSC’s billing of customs agents as notify parties for demurrage and detention (D&D) charges (late fees) through the merchant clause found in its bills of lading, even though such parties were not involved in moving the cargo. BEIC alleged that MSC violated 46 U.S.C. § 41102(c) by overcharging its customers demurrage and detention fees for use of its non-operating reefers (NORs). The FMC held that the factual record indicated that the overcharging happened in about 23% of all NOR bills during the entire year of 2021. Therefore, the commission concluded that MSC’s billing was not merely the result of a mistake but rather that it constituted an unreasonable practice within the meaning of section 41102(c). For this conduct the FMC assessed a penalty of $5,000 per violation, or a total of $13.145 million.

Additionally, BEIC’s investigation alleged that MSC violated 46 U.S.C. § 40501 by failing to include in its published tariff from 2021-2023 a statement of what such fees were for NORs. On this matter, the FMC affirmed the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)’s finding that MSC violated 46 U.S.C. § 40501 from 2021 to early 2023, but modified the initial decision to reflect knowing and willful violations starting only from the point of MSC’s March 2022 statement to the Commission that it would modify its tariff. The assessed civil penalties for those violations totaled $9.46 million.

The FMC affirmed the initial decision of the ALJ that MSC’s use of its merchant clause violated 46 U.S.C. § 41102(c). The assessed civil penalties for these violations totaled $65,000.

The Port of Osaka exported and imported 2.1 million TEUs of containers in 2025, up 3.9% from the previous calendar year, according to preliminary figures tallied by the Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau. In December alone, 194,955 TEUs were handled, up 11.7%.

In 2025, exports accounted for 969,186 TEUs, up 6%, and imports, 1.13 million TEUs, up 2.1%. As for loaded containers, 388,610 TEUs were exported, down 2.1%, and 1.09 million TEUs were imported, up 1.5%, for a total of 1.48 million TEUs, up 0.5%. Empty containers totaled 623,413 TEUs, up 12.7%.

In December, exports expanded 19% to 97,281 TEUs, and imports, 5.3% to 97,674 TEUs. Looking at loaded containers, 37,463 TEUs were exported, up 5.1%, and 91,918 TEUs were imported, up 1.8%, for a total of 129,610 TEUs. Empties added up to 65,574 TEUs, up 34.8%.

Container trade from Asia to Europe ballooned 15.5% to 1.68 million TEUs in November 2025, achieving its first year-on-year improvement in two months and setting a new November record, according to statistics compiled by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC) from data provided by the U.K.’s Container Trade Statistics (CTS). In January-November, 17.98 million TEUs were traded between the two regions, up 9.3%.

In November last year, 1.33 million TEUs were exported from China and Hong Kong, up 17.6%; 143,088 TEUs from other parts of Northeast Asia, up 10.6%; and 210,584 TEUs from Southeast Asia, up 6.8%. Exports from China, in particular, remained massive to destinations other than the U.S.

By destination, 991,898 TEUs were exported to North Europe, up 14.7%; 334,499 TEUs to the Western Mediterranean, up 12.8%; and 352,444 TEUs to the Eastern Mediterranean, up 20.7%. Growth on these trades were attributed to economic expansions in southern Europe.

The Port of Los Angeles handled 10.24 million TEUs of containers in 2025, up 0.56% from the previous calendar year, cementing its position as America's busiest seaport for the 26th consecutive year and delivering the third-best performance in the port's 118-year history. Imports of loaded containers accounted for 5.32 million TEUs, down 0.75%, and exports, 1.43 million TEUs, down 4.35%.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka announced the milestone during the port's 11th annual State of the Port address last week. Seroka outlined a major infrastructure push under a Build Bigger and Build Smarter framework, anchored by plans for Pier 500, which would become the port's first new container terminal in a generation. Additional priorities include the development of a maritime support facility on Terminal Island, expansion at Fenix Marine Services Terminal on Pier 300, and wharf and rail upgrades at LA TIL Container Terminal in the West Basin.

In addition, Los Angeles will expand its booking system for trucks to Long Beach to be able to share data among the state of California's five major container ports.

Los Angeles reported the lowest emissions per TEU of any port worldwide, supported by a $412 million EPA Clean Ports grant and an additional $230 million in non-federal funding to accelerate deployment of zero-emission cargo-handling equipment.