2026.09.03 Shipping Weekly

Shipping Weekly – 3 Sep 2026 | Container Rates & Carrier Moves

The week of 27 August to 3 September 2026 combined three things: container spot rates falling for a third straight week, West Africa surcharges widening beyond reefer cargo, and Hapag-Lloyd’s bid for ZIM running into regulatory resistance. Drewry’s World Container Index slipped to $4,473 per 40ft, while anchorage waits at Apapa (Lagos, Nigeria) stayed at 14-21 days, the worst in the world. Cheaper freight has not fixed the port-side bottleneck, so for Japan-origin exports the story this week is less about lower rates and more about lead times that have become harder to predict.

Key points this week

Regulatory headwinds for Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM. The meeting of eight Israeli government bodies reviewing the “golden share” was postponed to 9 September, with a majority reported to be opposed. Brazil’s CADE has also opened a full-form review covering three South America trades, with a deadline running to the end of March 2027.
MSC reaches 1,000 ships as the founding family hands over. Founder Gianluigi Aponte (85) is passing management to his son Diego and daughter Alexa. At the same time, the delivery of the newbuild MSC Migsan made MSC the first container line ever to operate 1,000 vessels.
A dry-cargo PSS appears on West Africa. CMA CGM introduced a $300/TEU peak season surcharge on dry containers from China to West Africa, effective 8 September. It sits separately from the existing reefer-only surcharge of EUR 100/TEU that took effect on 1 September.
Rates keep sliding, Lagos posts the world’s worst congestion. The Drewry WCI is at $4,473, down 1% week on week and falling for a third consecutive week. Apapa is holding at 14-21 days at anchorage, and Tema (Ghana) is still running 5-7 days late.

Container rates and market conditions

Item	Level	Week on week
Drewry WCI composite (40ft)	$4,473	-1%
Shanghai to Genoa	$4,866	-2%
Shanghai to Rotterdam	$4,287	-3%
Apapa (Lagos, Nigeria) anchorage wait	14-21 days	Elevated
Tema (Ghana) delay	5-7 days	Elevated
Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) congestion	3.1 days	Moderate
Blank sailings, W36-40 (east-west trades)	45 sailings	approx. 6%

The decline is led by the transpacific and Asia-Europe trades, with Mediterranean services the most exposed to the return to Suez. North Europe is soft as well. Japan-origin European rates are quoted separately from this index, but it remains a useful gauge of east-west supply and demand for anyone booking out of Japan (see our route pages). The African delays, by contrast, are port-side rather than rate-driven: Lagos is attributed to over-concentration of cargo, Tema to a shortage of berths plus crane breakdowns and yard congestion, and Abidjan to strong regional volumes combined with power outages.

How should you plan lead times to West Africa?

As of this week, Apapa (Lagos) is waiting 14-21 days at anchorage, the worst level worldwide, Tema (Ghana) is running 5-7 days late, and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) is at 3.1 days. West Africa therefore has to be read as the carrier’s published transit time plus the port-side delay on top. Standard transit times per port are set out on our route pages, for example Japan to Apapa and Japan to Dakar.

Carrier by carrier

MSCUpdate

MSC announced its family succession: founder Gianluigi Aponte (85) hands management to his son Diego and daughter Alexa. In the same week, delivery of the 11,480 TEU MSC Migsan from Zhoushan Changhong shipyard in China made MSC the first container line to operate 1,000 vessels. On Asia-Europe the carrier continues to transit Suez, with switching off AIS through the Bab el-Mandeb strait remaining standard practice. In August, MSC Sariska V was hit by two projectiles off Umm Qasr, Iraq; all crew were unharmed. The suspension of new bookings to and from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea remains in place.

MaerskUpdate

Following the partial reopening of Red Sea routings, Maersk reduced its Emergency Contingency Surcharge (ECS) on Indian subcontinent services, effective September. At the same time it is introducing new fuel and handling related surcharges, phased in from early September. In August, heat above 30C caused intermittent gate closures at Maasvlakte II (MV2) in Rotterdam, and the carrier’s own network updates flagged delays to Tema and Abidjan. Renewed tension around the Strait of Hormuz is being watched as an industry risk factor. Q2 results showed higher revenue and profit, and full-year guidance was raised on 13 August.

CMA CGMUpdate

CMA CGM introduced a $300/TEU peak season surcharge (PSS) on dry containers from China to West Africa, effective 8 September on a port-of-loading basis. The significance is that a West Africa surcharge has moved beyond reefer cargo to dry cargo for the first time. On 1 September, a EUR 100/TEU PSS took effect on reefers to West Africa (from North Europe, the Baltic, Scandinavia, the West Mediterranean and the Adriatic), along with a $500 per container PSS from North Europe to the Red Sea. Dangerous goods (IMDG) from the US to Jeddah, Port Sudan and Massawa picked up an additional $5,000 surcharge from the same date. A revision of the North Europe to US PSS is scheduled for 20 September ($1,000 for 20ft, $2,000 for 40ft, 40HC and 45ft). The carrier warns that 2026 will be a difficult year on overcapacity and weak demand, yet added 235,500 TEU (+5.7%) in the first half, the fastest fleet growth in the top ten.

COSCOUpdate

On 28 August, COSCO SHIPPING Ports released its 2026 interim results: net profit up 28.5% to $233.7 million, revenue up 12.3% to $905.3 million, and total throughput up 7.9% to 80.157 million TEU. A first interim dividend of 2.360 US cents per share was declared. Other group companies including Development, International and Specialized Carriers held board meetings around the same date to approve their interim results. Detailed figures for the holding company itself, covering the container shipping segment, will be followed up in the next issue.

Hapag-LloydWatch

The meeting of eight Israeli government bodies reviewing the ZIM acquisition has been postponed to 9 September. ZIM carries a “golden share” that gives the government a veto over any sale of more than 24% of its stock. Led by the shipping and ports authority, a majority is reported to oppose the deal on concerns that a new ZIM would be excessively dependent on Hapag-Lloyd. Hapag-Lloyd has brought in Israel’s FIMI and tabled a revised proposal that includes continued operation of 16 Israeli-flagged vessels and employment guarantees, but nothing is settled. Brazil’s CADE has also moved to a full-form review, because the combined share of the two carriers exceeds the threshold on three East Coast South America trades (from North America, from Central America and the Caribbean, and from the West Coast of South America); that review runs to the end of March 2027. Q2 results published on 13 August showed revenue recovering to $5.8 billion (+19% quarter on quarter) and full-year group EBIT guidance raised to $100 million to $1.1 billion, although the first half carried a net loss of EUR 151.9 million.

ONEUpdate

ONE launched two new services, IMM and IMD, linking India and the Middle East with East Africa. They are dedicated loops to Mombasa (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) respectively, continuing the build-out of East Africa capacity. On surcharges, the carrier revises its China-origin transpacific eastbound (TPEB) peak season surcharge on 11 September, introduces a rehandling charge on rail intermodal cargo arriving at Yusen Terminal (YTI) in the Port of Los Angeles on 15 September, and revises its Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) on 16 September. In August it lifted full-year profit guidance sharply, from $300 million to $900 million.

EvergreenNo change

No new releases on surcharges, service changes or results were identified this week, so there is no change on the rate and service side. On capital investment, Evergreen said it will be the first Taiwanese carrier to roll out Inmarsat’s NexusWave satellite connectivity across its entire fleet, aimed at crew welfare and cyber security rather than rates or earnings. The share price stood at TWD 250.50 as of 24 August, down 23.1% over the previous four weeks.

HMMUpdate

HMM is expanding its Gulf-India-East Africa (GIA) service from a single loop to two loops, in service from September, to improve schedule reliability and connectivity between India and East Africa. It has also shifted fleet strategy: the 2030 container capacity target comes down from 1.55 million TEU to 1.47 million TEU, while vessel count rises from 130 to 166 ships, meaning smaller ships at higher frequency. More than ten newbuildings in the 13,000 TEU class are on hold, with resources redirected to energy transport including Suezmax and crude tankers, VLGCs and LNG carriers. First-half results showed revenue of KRW 6.121 trillion, net profit of KRW 765 billion and an operating margin of 10.2%; Q2 profit rose, but first-half net profit was down 37% year on year.

Yang MingUpdate

On 2 September, Yang Ming placed a new order with Hanwha Ocean of Korea for six LNG dual-fuel vessels of 13,000 TEU, designed to allow conversion to ammonia propulsion. Delivery runs through 2028 and 2029, with deployment planned on the Asia-North America and Mediterranean east-west trades. Net profit for January to June was TWD 7.17 billion; the carrier attributes this to tariff policy changes and higher energy costs pulling demand forward, which supported rates on Asia-Europe and the transpacific. Five previously ordered LNG dual-fuel vessels of 15,500 TEU from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are also being delivered progressively from 2026.

ZIMWatch

The meeting of eight Israeli government bodies reviewing approval of the acquisition has been postponed to 9 September; see the Hapag-Lloyd entry above for detail. The same date is the payment date for a dividend of $0.06 per share, with an ex-dividend date of 2 September. Q2 results beat market expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.64 and revenue up 9% year on year at $1.78 billion. Chen Lichtenstein has taken over as chief executive following the departure of Eli Glickman.

Wan Hai (outside the top ten, for reference)Update

Wan Hai placed an additional order for eight newbuildings at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, worth roughly $1 billion. Together with existing orders, including four 6,000 TEU ships at Huangpu Wenchong and two 9,200 TEU ships at Waigaoqiao, the orderbook grows to 50 vessels and about 500,000 TEU. Quarterly profit rose sharply year on year, and the carrier is targeting a 14% increase in annual contract rates on the Pacific. Schedule reliability remains a weak point, with on-time arrivals still lagging.

What this means for shippers and forwarders

Lower rates do not fix West Africa, because the bottleneck is at the port. With Apapa at 14-21 days and Tema at 5-7 days as a steady state, ETAs on this trade are better quoted to buyers with one to three weeks of headroom against the carrier’s published schedule. Treat the transit times on route pages such as Japan to Apapa as a baseline rather than a promise.
Longer waits raise the risk of running past free time. Where vessels sit at anchorage for two to three weeks, the probability of incurring storage and equipment charges rises sharply. Fix the start date of free time and any extension in writing before loading (demurrage and detention explained).
Surcharges can spread beyond reefer cargo. CMA CGM applying a PSS to dry containers from China to West Africa sets a precedent that this trade can carry dry-cargo surcharges too. It is worth checking each quotation’s validity period against the official tariff, and watching whether the same treatment extends to other Asian origins including Japan (what makes up an ocean freight quotation).
The return to Suez may make space harder to read. As tonnage is drawn back to Asia-Europe, space on Cape of Good Hope routings can become less predictable, and 45 blank sailings (around 6%) are already scheduled for weeks 36 to 40. Booking early from September onwards is the safer posture (how to prepare for container shortages).
East Africa now offers more choice. With ONE’s IMM and IMD loops and HMM’s two-loop GIA service both starting in September, cargo to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam can realistically be quoted across several carriers.
Smaller ships at higher frequency favour smaller lot sizes. Major carriers holding back large newbuildings while increasing vessel counts is, over the medium term, a positive for shippers with many destinations and modest volumes per destination. When space does tighten, shipper-owned equipment is another way to secure it (SOC containers / SOC versus COC).

The week ahead

8 SepCMA CGM’s $300/TEU dry PSS from China to West Africa takes effect. The question is whether it extends to other Asian origins.
9 SepMeeting of the eight Israeli government bodies on the Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM deal. Either outcome can change ZIM’s service network.
11 SepONE revises its China-origin transpacific eastbound (TPEB) peak season surcharge.
15 SepONE introduces a rehandling charge on rail intermodal cargo arriving at Yusen Terminal (YTI), Port of Los Angeles.
16 SepONE revises its Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS).
20 SepCMA CGM revises its North Europe to US PSS ($1,000 for 20ft, $2,000 for 40ft, 40HC and 45ft).
OngoingDetailed interim results for COSCO SHIPPING Holdings itself, covering the container shipping segment.
OngoingBrazil’s CADE review of Hapag-Lloyd and ZIM, running to the end of March 2027, and what remedies it may impose on the three East Coast South America trades.
OngoingWhich carriers beyond MSC and Maersk declare a return to Suez. The pace of that shift drives rates.

Sources

This article was compiled by the OCEAN FREIGHT JAPAN editorial team from public company announcements and press reports, covering 27 August to 3 September 2026. Surcharge levels and their conditions of application can change after announcement, and actual application varies by origin, commodity and contract terms. Always confirm applicability against the carrier’s official tariff and your own quotation.