Shipments in transit are subjected to numerous perils; goods may be damaged in a storm or fire, stolen by ghosts in the night, involved in a collision, or just plain mishandled, much like the ill-fated journey in “Deliverance.” To help protect against financial loss or another frightful travesty, shippers should consider obtaining Shipper’s Interest Cargo […]

Imagine receiving a message from an ocean carrier notifying you that all the cargo aboard a vessel, including yours, has been impounded—and the only way you can retrieve it is a boat load of cash or a guarantee at the very least. Sounds like extortion, right? Well, it’s actually a very common event in maritime […]

Pay attention, Agents… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves decoding the latest updates to U.S. Customs Bonds—the unofficial and secret weapon that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other Partner Government Agencies (PGA) have at their disposal to safeguard our national trade interests. Much like the legendary MI6 Agent 007 from […]

Lately, the international trade newsroom has cast a bright spotlight–or should we say dark shadow–on some of the shadier business practices allegedly leveraged by certain popular e-commerce platforms. If you were one of the 123 million viewers that tuned into Superbowl 58, chances are you caught a glimpse of at least one of the six […]

By the dawn’s early light on March 26, we all saw that the Francis Scott Key Bridge had lost its perilous fight with the Maersk Dali. And then we viewed countless videos of the violent carnage, somehow almost graceful, surely caused by bombs bursting in air and not a bump from a boat! Our second response […]

Logistics contingency plans are just a fancy way of conveying the importance of businesses being prepared when the ship hits the fan—like if the Ever Given lodges itself at the Suez Canal or a viral pandemic hits planet Earth like a meteor, somehow super-charging global consumerism.  In 2021, an estimated 40% of all global ocean […]

Chinese New Year (CNY) is just around the corner—which means the mundane rhythm of everyday life will soon give way to a vibrant celebration of family and cultural traditions. Beginning Saturday, February 10, 2024, not a single soul will be found in factories or offices, as the Chinese workforce enjoys a week (or more) of […]

Editor’s Note: First, let us say that the humanitarian impacts and terrifying possibilities of a raging geopolitical storm leading to a global conflict are what really matter when eyeing Gaza. That is a concern well beyond this blog! We write this in the spirit of the annual budgets we are preparing (or will soon be […]

Shipping Line News Blank Sailings Up Dramatically Container Volume Asia to US East Coast Ports (2023) Container Volume Asia to US West Coast Ports (2023)

In a world already fraught with frightening freight challenges, shippers are now grappling with a bone-chilling new threat that haunts their every waking moment—a rising number of cargo thefts. Statistics reveal a total of 566 incidents documented this year, marking a spine-tingling 56% year-over-year increase. These thieves, driven by an insatiable appetite for cash, target […]