Nippon Yusen NYK, Japan’s largest shipping line, is concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs could push up the cost of automobiles and daily goods, denting consumer demand and slowing cargo flows, its president said.

“The tariffs are not directly borne by consumers, but the burden ultimately falls on them, which in turn reduces the actual flow of goods. That’s our biggest concern,” President Takaya Soga told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Trump last week unveiled plans to impose a 25% tariff on automobile imports, a move expected to hit Japan’s export-driven economy. He has also vowed to announce reciprocal tariffs targeting all trading partners on Wednesday.

“Tariffs could have a considerable impact on the economy,” Soga said, adding that the extent of the impact on shipping and logistics companies will depend on actual cargo movements.

However, Soga sees potential benefits from the trade war. As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, even if cargo volumes decline, tariff-related procedural delays could disrupt logistics, tighten ship demand and lift freight rates, he said.

And if China shifts to sourcing raw materials from outside the U.S., NYK could find business opportunities.

A rush for general consumer goods drove up cargo movement in December until just before the Chinese New Year in anticipation of U.S. tariffs, but there has been no major shift in material flows since they took effect, Soga said.

The United States is also planning to charge fees for docking at U.S. ports on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese- built or Chinese-flagged vessels and will push allies to do similar or face retaliation.

“The U.S. government will carefully examine the policy, including whether it will be implemented, so we cannot say now that we will stop ordering vessels from China,” he said.

With ongoing geopolitical risks in the Middle East, Soga expects Red Sea avoidance to continue for a while. Disruption in the Red Sea due to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants absorbed extra capacity last year, as many ships took a longer route around Southern Africa.

While container vessel congestion in the Panama Canal has largely been resolved, NYK is urging the Panama Canal Authority to reinstate Tier 1 priority for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker traffic, Soga said.

Regarding the investment plans in vessels involved in offshore wind power projects, Soga said the company’s plans in Japan may be delayed due to slower-than-expected market development, but overseas investments will proceed sooner.

Oslo-listed tonnage provider MPC Container Ships (MPCC) said in a stock exchange filing that it sold five vessels en bloc, involving three 1,300 teu vessels and two 2,000 teu vessels.

According to Greek media reports, the five vessels were bought by Nikolas Pateras-owned Contships Logistics. The vessels in question are the 2010-built AS Alexandria and AS Anita, as well as the 2008-built AS Filippa, AS Fabrizia, and AS Floriana. Delivery to the Greek firm will take place between April and June 2025.

Two more vessels were sold separately to unrelated parties. The average age of the seven sold vessels is 17 years, and the transactions imply a net asset value of NOK 30 ($2.86) per share.

The five vessels will be sold with the existing charters attached, which will reduce the revenue backlog by approximately $40m, subject to the respective handover dates. Of the total amount, $24m relates to the backlog for 2025.

Consequently, MPCC reduced its financial guidance for 2025. The updated guidance for 2025 revenue is between $485m and $500m, down from the previous revenue guidance of $515m and $530m.

Key Points

• The U.S. is considering steep fines on containerships made in China as a way to help revive domestic shipbuilding.
• From global ocean carriers to U.S. farmers, business interests are warning that the economic consequences will be devastating.
• The World Shipping Council estimates that the rules being considered by the U.S. Trade Representative would soon cover 98% of all liner vessels calling on U.S. ports.

Business interests, from U.S. farmers to global ocean carriers, are warning of severe economic damage from proposals being considered by the U.S. government to hit containerships made in China with steep fines when they call on U.S. ports. The goal of bringing more shipbuilding back to the U.S. is at odds with reality in the global ocean trade market, they say, where virtually all container traffic will soon be carried on ships built in China.

An estimated 98% of the global fleet would be subjected to fees when calling on U.S. ports because the fee applies to both existing Chinese-built vessels or future vessels in the order book of carriers, and any carrier with at least one order on the books for a vessel made in China, according to the World Shipping Council, which represents the international ocean liner shipping industry. Currently, 90% of the world’s vessels are subjected to the fee. According to Sea-Intelligence, the total number of port calls made by deep-sea container liner vessels in the United States in 2024 was 12,410.

On Monday and Wednesday, hearings are being held by the U.S. Trade Representative to consider the implementation of penalties. The investigation, begun under President Joe Biden, culminated in a report released in January that concluded China’s shipbuilding and maritime industry had an unfair advantage. Now, it is being continued by the Trump administration as part of the president’s widening global economic and trade war, with Trump saying in his recent speech to Congress that he will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House that would offer special tax incentives to bring more shipbuilding back to the U.S.

“The nation’s agriculture exporters are united in concern and opposition to the proposal,” Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, said in prepared testimony ahead of the hearing. “We are not opposed to the objective, but we are not willing to sacrifice America’s agriculture and the communities throughout the country that would be economically distressed or worse, by a plan such as the present, that would eliminate our ability to sell agriculture outside our own borders.”

The AgTC says there are no U.S.-built vessels suitable for international commercial shipping that exist today that can move agricultural cargo, moved by container ships, bulk ships, and breakbulk ships, and across products that include corn, wheat, grains, and soybeans. “If they were available at a reasonable cost, U.S. exporters, including agriculture, would already be using this option,” Friedmann said in his testimony.

The razor-thin margins that farmers face in the world economy, and the increased and intense competition for bulk commodities, have to be factored into vessel choices for transport of commodities, he said. Put another way by Friedmann in his testimony on Monday, “The hogs in China couldn’t give a damn where the soybeans come from. You’ve essentially told those exporters you’re out of business.”

To penalize ocean carriers using Chinese-made vessels to move trade, the U.S. government has proposed steep levies on Chinese-made ships arriving at U.S. ports. For Chinese-owned operators (such as COSCO), a service fee of up to $1 million could be charged on each vessel. For non-Chinese-owned ocean carriers with fleets containing Chinese-built vessels, the service fee would be up to $1.5 million for each U.S. port of call.

Expansion programme has increased South Container Terminal’s capacity to 4 million TEUs

Dubai: Dubai’s DP World and Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) have unveiled a new state-of-the-art South Container Terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port.

The multinational logistics company said on Friday that this marks a significant milestone in DP World’s SR3 billion ($800 million) expansion and development programme to upgrade the terminal.

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The three-year project more than doubled the South Container Terminal’s capacity from 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 4 million TEUs. The companies said the expansion paves the way for a future capacity of 5 million TEUs, with additional ship-to-shore equipment to be deployed as demand grows.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said, “Today marks a significant milestone in our long-term strategic investment in Jeddah Islamic Port. This expansion builds on our 25-year legacy in Jeddah and reinforces our commitment to driving regional trade growth.”

He added, “With this modernised terminal, we are enhancing efficiency, improving supply chain resilience and creating new trade opportunities for the Kingdom and beyond for decades to come.”

DP World’s Jeddah terminal, its first concession outside the UAE since 1999, has been vital to regional trade. Under a 30-year BOT agreement, its latest expansion strengthens Jeddah’s role as a key trade hub, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals. 

Saudi Transport Minister Eng attended the opening ceremony with Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World GCC CEO Abdulla Bin Damithan, and senior officials from DP World, Mawani, and key stakeholders.

In a landmark deal announced on Tuesday, Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison will sell its 80% stake in Hutchison Ports Holding to a Blackrock-TiL consortium, positioning Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)—already the world’s largest ocean carrier by far—to become the global leader in container terminal operations, according to Drewry’s analysis of the deal.

The $22.8 billion transaction, the largest ever in the global container terminal sector, comes amid heightened political scrutiny over Chinese influence in critical maritime infrastructure. Notably, the deal also includes the sale of Hutchison Port Holdings’ 90% interest in Panama Ports Company, which operates the Balboa and Cristobal ports on opposite ends of the Panama Canal.

Since December, President Trump has repeatedly criticized alleged Chinese influence over Panama Canal operations and discriminatory practices against the U.S.—claims that the Panamanian government has firmly rejected.

“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Trump said in his address to a joint session of Congress this week. “Just today, a large American company (BlackRock) announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.”

Drewry’s global terminal operator (GTO) rankings show Hutchison Ports currently operates 43 maritime container terminals outside China and Hong Kong, spanning from Australia to the UAE, with a combined capacity exceeding 73 million TEU and throughput of nearly 47 million TEU as of 2023.

MSC’s existing portfolio, which includes a 70% stake in Terminal Investment Limited (TiL), full ownership of Africa Global Logistics, and various Italian terminals through Marinvest, handled over 70 million TEU in 2023, according to Drewry.

“The proposed deal will see MSC leapfrog other leading GTOs to secure the top spot in the global terminal operator rankings which Drewry produces each year, securing the Swiss-headquartered container carrier a truly global network of container terminals,” points out Eleanor Hadland, Drewry’s Lead Analyst for Ports and Terminals.

However, regulatory hurdles may complicate the acquisition. Drewry’s analysis reveals key areas of concern include Panama, where TiL already holds significant interests opposite Hutchison’s operations; Rotterdam, where the deal could affect competition across Northwest Europe; and Spain, where both companies maintain substantial terminal presence.

Drewry notes that the partnership leverages a longstanding relationship between MSC and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), now owned by Blackrock. GIP’s initial 35% stake in TiL, acquired in 2013 and currently at 20%, has proven crucial for TiL’s expansion.

“This deal appears to be a major win for MSC, which secures additional capacity in several key markets,” concludes Hadland. “We do however expect the regulatory processes to extend for at least a year, and foresee competition authorities taking a particular interest in the Northwest Europe, Spain and Panama markets.”

Tanzania plans to launch in May its fifth oil and gas licensing round for 26 exploration blocks in what will be the East African country’s first such bidding round since 2014.

“We are proceeding with promotion activities because the blocks have already been identified and the data is in place,” Charles Sangweni, director general of Tanzania’s Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA), told Bloomberg in an interview published on Thursday.

Of the 26 exploration blocks on offer, three are in Lake Tanganyika and the rest are located in the Indian Ocean.

Tanzania aims to launch the new bid round at the Africa Energies Summit event in London in the middle of May, the official said.

Tanzania is believed to contain massive natural gas resources, which are estimated at 57 trillion cubic feet.

Tanzania also has a planned $42-billion LNG export project, but progress on this stalled early last year as supermajors Shell and Equinor were still expecting the signing of all agreements which would allow them to start developing the project.

The LNG project for connecting offshore natural gas discoveries offshore Tanzania with an export terminal on its coast has been nearly a decade in the making.

After buying BG Group in 2016, Shell became the operator of two offshore blocks in Tanzania, Block 1 and Block 4, together with its partners Medco Energi (Ophir Energy) and Pavilion Energy. A total of 16 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas have been discovered in the blocks.

Equinor, for its part, started exploration drilling activities in Block 2 offshore Tanzania in 2011 and has made nine discoveries with estimated volumes of more than 20 Tcf of gas in place.

Last month, Energy Minister Doto Biteko said that Tanzania hopes the negotiations with the project developers on tax incentives would conclude by June this year.

• A five-year export update and trade analysis has pinpointed the reasons behind Tanzania’s failure to supply various international markets with its agricultural produce, mineral products, and manufactured goods, while also suggesting potential solutions.

Tanzania has a $5.5 billion unutilized export potential for its products, according to the International Trade Centre (ITC) export potential map.

The center’s analysis shows there are several markets, such as South Asia and the Middle East, the European Union and West Europe, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, North America, and Central Africa, which Tanzania can export more.