News in Brief podcast | Week 42 2025 | Sanctions, strikes and sliding rates  

The dust is only just beginning to settle in Europe’s ports after last week’s strikes — but the disruption is far from over. Host Charlotte Goldstone updates you on the ripple effects in Antwerp, Bruges and Rotterdam, before turning to the week’s biggest story: a tense MEPC84 meeting where the IMO’s net-zero framework faced an unexpected twist of US threats of sanctions against countries voting “yes”. 

Meanwhile, Gavin van Marle chats about China expanding its range of tit-for-tat port fees, how the alliances are fighting for capacity dominance, and why the market is bracing for softer contract rates, despite a looming November GRI push. 

In air freight, Alex Lennane joins to dissect UPS’s parcel backlog meltdown, Flexport’s AI-driven fix for logistics reliability, and a cyber-attack that put DSV in the spotlight last week. Plus, Ms Goldstone shares insights from Aviation Connect in Copenhagen.  

If you’re following the global freight news cycle, this episode connects all the dots ahead of whatever this week has in store…  

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