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Maritime trade routes

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Maritime trade routes. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Congested traffic in the narrow passageway in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
Photo: Shutterstock

US-China relations

Letters | Asia’s busy straits must not become the playground of superpower navies

Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are the caretaker nations of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes but with little regulatory power over the ships passing through. Military vessels must avoid provocative moves and respect territorial integrity.

25 May 2022 - 2:30PM

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

Quad leaders vow to oppose all attempts to ‘change status quo by force’

24 May 2022 - 7:46PMvideocam

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Shanghai

Shanghai’s lockdown easing doesn’t mean end of shipping snarls

31 May 2022 - 1:06PM

Hong Kong shipping and logistics

Hong-Kong flagged cargo ship refloated after month stuck in US bay

The Ever Forward, owned by the Taiwan-based company Evergreen, became lodged in mud in the US east coast’s Chesapeake Bay on March 13.

18 Apr 2022 - 10:25AM

The Ever Forward container ship stranded off the US east coast’s Chesapeake Bay on April 12. Photo: Baltimore Sun / TNS

Indonesia

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines praise ‘anti-kidnapping’ naval patrols

No kidnappings for ransom last year in once-notorious seas, seen as proof of Trilateral Cooperation Agreement’s success.

29 Mar 2022 - 8:30AMvideocam

US-Japan relations

Japan-US marine combat drills held amid China, Russia maritime activity

Hundreds of Japanese and US marines in training sessions together in Japan in scenario of enemy invasion of remote Japanese island.

15 Mar 2022 - 9:44PMvideocam

Ukraine

Cargill-chartered ship hit amid invasion as Ukraine shuts major grain ports

Global shipping giant Maersk and commodity traders like Bunge, Archer-Daniels Midland have stopped or suspended their key operations at ports in Ukraine.

9 Mar 2022 - 1:26PMvideocam

A man walks with harbour cranes in the background, at the trade port in Mariupol, Ukraine on February 23. Photo: AP

Indonesia

Explainer | What’s Indonesia’s border dispute with Malaysia and the Philippines about?

Indonesia’s top diplomat has put land and maritime boundary talks with the country’s Asean neighbours high on her agenda again this year.

12 Jan 2022 - 8:45AMvideocam

China trade

China’s exporters face ‘profound impact on trade’ as freight rates keep rising

Struggling to transport their wares amid supply-chain disruptions that have led to a global container shortage, some exporters could face higher shipping costs until 2023.

19 Dec 2021 - 10:00PMvideocam

Transport and logistics

One dead, one missing as Danish barge capsizes after collision with UK ship

One crew member’s body was found in the hull of the Danish ship; at least nine boats and a helicopter are combing the waters near the wreckage-strewn site.

14 Dec 2021 - 2:05AM

Divers work on the capsized Danish cargo ship Karin Hoj after it collided with British cargo vessel Scot Carrier in the Baltic Sea on Monday. Photo: AP

History

Greece’s first underwater museum is a 2,500-year-old shipwreck

The wreck of a cargo ship that sank in around 500BC has become Greece’s first underwater museum. Divers pay to look at – but not touch – some 4,000 ancient wine jars.

27 Jul 2021 - 10:39PM

Greece’s underwater museum the Peristera shipwreck lay 30 metres underwater for almost 2,500 years. Photo: Will Vassilopoulos/AFP

Hong Kong shipping and logistics

Outside In | How global Covid-19 policy failures leave seafarers to suffer

The seafarers who staff the world’s merchant vessels and keep its supply chains running are in an unprecedented crisis. Border closures, port lockdowns, travel protocols, quarantines and visa restrictions have created a nightmare for those stuck at sea or jobless at home.

9 Jul 2021 - 4:30PMvideocam

Architecture and design

The colourful life and times of China’s lighthouse builder

Scottish engineer David Marr Henderson built the lighthouses that made 19th century China a trading nation – 34 in all. Fascinated by Chinese culture, he almost certainly had a secret Chinese family. And he owned brothels.

5 Jul 2021 - 5:07PM

Transport and logistics

Letters | What Suez Canal crisis should tell the world about seafarers

Global shipping crisis threw a spotlight on the rarely told story of the hardships and poor conditions endured by seafarers, especially since the pandemic, with some not seeing home since then.

3 Apr 2021 - 6:00AMvideocam

Filipino seafarers stranded amid the coronavirus pandemic rest inside a dormitory in Manila, Philippines, on April 29, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong facing weeks of delays, higher costs over Suez Canal blockage

Global supply chain hit hard after one of the largest container ships in the world ran aground on Tuesday, and industry figures say goods destined for the city could be delayed by at least three weeks.

26 Mar 2021 - 11:08PMvideocam

The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, ran aground in the Suez Canal. Photo: Reuters

Inside Out & Outside In

Outside In | Suez Canal blockage shows vulnerability of world’s trade choke points

The canal is just one of 14 trade choke points that experts have identified as critical to global food, oil and grain supplies. Yet there remains a curious lack of international effort to address such vulnerabilities.

26 Mar 2021 - 1:30PMvideocam

Energy

Suez Canal blockage leaves at least US$400 million of crude oil stranded

Liquefied natural gas, refined fuels and containers full of goods are among the cargo delayed after a huge ship blocked the Suez Canal, a man-made waterway that carries about 12 per cent of global trade by volume.

26 Mar 2021 - 8:44AMvideocam

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