What’s going on in freight — Thursday 15 October 2026

War is now hitting container ships and the lanes around them: a Gulf feeder sank near Hormuz, two tankers burned off Romania, and a Saudi–Houthi war is running beside a Suez comeback. In the US, intermodal, fuel and customs costs are all being pushed up, while Asia–Europe carriers start their 2027 tender pricing.

War, chokepoints and disruption

• The 2,824 TEU feeder GFS Pride sank after a strike near the Strait of Hormuz on 13 October, and its sister ship GFS Giselle was holed. The IMO counts 113 incidents and 24 seafarers killed in the region since February.

Sources

• The Loadstar, Splash247 [01]

• Two empty tankers caught fire off Romania’s Sulina canal on 14–15 October, and seven of Wine Trader’s 12 crew are missing. Yara J burned inside Romanian waters, which insurers had treated as the safe lane for Danube traffic. Source: gCaptain/Reuters [02]
• Container capacity through Suez averaged 753,000 TEU a week in early October, over 50% of 2023 levels for the first time, according to BIMCO. Meanwhile the Saudi–Houthi war is escalating, and Riyadh’s main airport is shut through 17 October.

Sources

• MarineLink, FreightWaves [05]

• Hurricane Trudy had 90 mph winds and was 385 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo on Thursday evening. NHC gives Manzanillo an 86% chance of tropical-storm-force winds within five days, a week after Hurricane Simon closed its terminals.

Sources

• NHC, C.H. Robinson [07]

• Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd restart their direct Asia–Middle East loop on 17 October, calling at Khor Fakkan instead of Jebel Ali. Kuehne+Nagel expects Khor Fakkan to stay under significant pressure in the coming weeks.

Sources

• The Loadstar, Maersk [09]

Rates and markets

• Drewry’s index has Shanghai–Rotterdam up 6% to $3,522 per 40ft and Shanghai–Genoa up 7% to $3,945. That ends 13 straight weekly falls on Asia–Europe, just as 2027 tenders open.

Sources

• Shipping Telegraph, The Loadstar [04]

• US on-highway diesel averaged $6.179 a gallon, $2.514 above a year ago (EIA via FleetOwner). Washington is easing Russian fuel sanctions and weighing relief for shadow-fleet tankers.

Sources

• FleetOwner, gCaptain [08]

• Air cargo capacity at Riyadh fell 99% after the airport closed. Freightos has China–North Europe air rates down 7% on the week, and WorldACD has China–US spot at $6.05/kg, up 30% on last year.

Sources

• The Loadstar, Freightos, STAT Times [10]

• Prologis ended Q3 95.6% occupied, and its CEO says customers’ excess warehouse capacity “has largely cleared”. New leases carried cash rents 23.4% above the ones they replaced. Source: Prologis via PR Newswire [18]

Tariffs, customs and policy

• The FMC proposed a $200,000 fee each time a Spanish-flagged ship enters a US port, plus limits on five Spanish import categories worth about $3.1bn, including olive oil and ceramic tiles. Comments close 14 December.

Sources

• Federal Register, gCaptain [03]

• The trade court has certified a class of every importer that paid IEEPA tariffs and has not sued, covering about $30bn the court says would otherwise go unclaimed. A joint schedule is due 22 October.

Sources

• Supply Chain Dive, Metro Global [12]

• CBP proposes that informal entries (goods worth $2,500 or less) be filed on or before arrival day. In CBP’s own sample, only 0.4% are filed that early today. Comments are due 7 December.

Sources

• Federal Register, Supply Chain Dive [13]

• Since 14 October, Mexico charges 0% instead of 10% on parts imported for vehicle kit assembly, for five years, for carmakers in bonded warehouses. This opens a container lane for Asian kits.

Sources

• Mexico Business News, Cluster Industrial [14]

Forwarders, carriers and deals

• In Q3, J.B. Hunt’s intermodal revenue per load rose just 2% once fuel is stripped out. Management says it is “asking for larger rate increases” in 2027 bids, while Houston dray rates are up 34% year on year.

Sources

• J.B. Hunt / SEC, FreightWaves, The Loadstar [06]

• The extortion group n0n claims data from 38 shipping lines, terminals and logistics firms, including EDI messages and manifests, and threatens to publish at 13:27 UTC on 19 October. None of the firms has confirmed a breach.

Sources

• The Loadstar, SOCRadar [11]

• A.P. Moller Capital is buying Mitsui’s terminal operator Portek, which has interests in seven terminals in six countries and handles about 700,000 containers a year. No price was disclosed. Source: Splash247 [19]

Software, AI and automation

• Texas carrier Warrior Logistics now runs Waabi autonomous trucks on Dallas–Houston freight. On 7 October FMCSA granted a five-year exemption letting driverless trucks use cab-mounted beacons instead of roadside warning triangles.

Sources

• FreightWaves, Transport Topics [15]

• Delta Cargo has joined WiseTech’s CargoWise Carrier Connectivity Program, so forwarders can see its live rates and capacity and book directly inside CargoWise.

Sources

• Air Cargo News, MarketScreener [16]

• Carrier Logistics and LSP44 launched an API to tackle “AI bot fatigue”. It lets bots find an LTL carrier’s shipment without a tracking number, instead of chasing it by email and phone. Source: PR Newswire [17]

Coming up

• 17 October: Riyadh King Khalid airport suspension runs through this date [10]
• 17 October: Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd FM1/AGX Asia–Middle East service restarts from Qingdao [09]
• 17–18 October: Hurricane Trudy expected to approach Mexico’s Pacific coast [07]
• 19 October: n0n leak deadline, 13:27 UTC [11]
• 19 October: new Asia–North Europe FAK rates take effect [04]
• 22 October: joint scheduling proposal due in the IEEPA refund class action [12]
• 3 November: US midterm elections [01, 08]
• 7 December: comments close on CBP’s low-value shipments rule [13]
• 14 December: comments close on the FMC’s Spain proposal [03]