News / Shortsea operators suffer as new ocean alliances put feeders out of work

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Hub-and-spoke feeder calls have fallen “drastically” following this year’s deepsea container carrier alliance reshuffle.

According to X-Press Feeders’ chief executive, Tristan Howitt, ocean freight rates and volumes have shot up in 2017, with the Far East, Indian Subcontinent and Middle East trades all performing well.

“However, we can’t say the same for the shortsea hub-and-spoke feeder sector,” he told The Loadstar.

“After April – when the three major alliances and new service coverage came into place – there was a marked increase in direct calls to traditional ports where, previously, lines ...