News in Brief podcast | Week 48 2025 | Ship fires, Suez standoff and air cargo’s mini peak 

This week’s episode dives into the growing contrasts across global freight. In ocean shipping, Maersk has pushed back against claims of an imminent Suez Canal return – despite pressure from the Suez Canal Authority – leaving carriers and insurers guessing when routes might reopen.  

Meanwhile, strikes in Belgium, ship fires in US ports, and record-low scrapping levels add to Europe’s congestion woes, as MSC piles on more transatlantic tonnage and Hapag-Lloyd invests in new feeder vessels. 

Gavin van Marle unpacks the latest on ocean rates and why carriers are still betting big on capacity, despite falling demand, while Alex Lennane provides updates from airfreight, including the forwarder-airline contract negotiations.

Plus, with Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday driving a short-lived “mini peak”, we look at how global airfreight demand is holding up, how Asia is powering through flooding disruptions, and whether Western Global’s struggles could mark the end of the MD-11 era. 

It’s a busy week across air, sea, and logistics – and this episode connects all the dots. 

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