Heilongjiang Lighthouse International Logistics Co., Ltd.

China's Hainan Airlines announced the launch of a new air route connecting Haikou City /adm. center of Hainan Province, South China/ and Seattle in the U.S. via Chongqing, the central city of Chongqing, starting September 26. Hainan Airlines announced the launch of a new air route connecting Haikou City /adm. center of Hainan Province, South China/ and Seattle in the United States via Chongqing.

The route will operate one round-trip flight per week, with flight number HU445 departing from Haikou every Thursday. Both departing and arriving flights will include a stopover in the central government city of Chongqing in southwest China.

This will be the first air route from Haikou to the United States operated by Hainan Airlines. It is expected to not only increase air traffic, but also promote the development of Hainan Free Trade Port.

In recent years, Hainan Province has stepped up efforts to revitalize and launch international air services. As of May this year, 46 international passenger air routes were operating in the province, and the number is expected to reach 62 by the end of this year.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

A major explosion has occurred on a Yang Ming boxship while berthed at the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China in another incident that raises serious safety concerns.

"This type of incident should never happen and is another example of how one failure in ocean container shipping can have catastrophic consequences," says Peter Sand, Xenetal chief analyst.

Sand pointed out that if this explosion had happened at sea rather than at a berth in a port, the crew and ship would have been in even more perilous danger.

"An investigation will take place and the industry must learn from it. Container ships are used to transport hazardous and potentially explosive cargo, so it is of paramount importance that robust safety measures are in place," he noted.

The explosion in Ningbo follows other major incidents in 2024, including the collapse of Baltimore Bridge in March and an electrical fire onboard Maersk Frankfurt during its maiden voyage through the Arabian Sea last month.

Ningbo-Zhoushan is the second most important container shipping port in China behind Shanghai, handling more than 100,000 TEUs each day.

Xeneta data shows average spot rates on the major fronthaul trade from Ningbo to the United States West Coast increased by 146% between 30 April and 1 July amid the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea region on container shipping.

Garment and all factories remained closed Monday as the Bangladesh government reinforced curfew to calm down agitating students, as they had been heading towards Dhaka to oust the government.

The factories will remain closed until further orders are issued. From depots in Chittagong, only a few hundred boxes could go to the port for shipment. As the internet connection was cut for some hours on Monday morning, the shipment processes saw disruption.

On Sunday, clash between students, common people, police and ruling party people some 98 people dead while three more died on Monday.

Thousand of people took to the street demanding resignation of the government.

All private and public offices, shops, and commercial operations ordered three days closure.

Army has been patrolling in the street, while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on Monday afternoon in the face of severe protests.

SF Airlines has launched an international cargo air route connecting the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Sanya with Singapore, the airline announced Monday.

The B767-300 cargo plane took off from Shenzhen's Bao'an International Airport at 10:01 p.m. Sunday, traveling on the Shenzhen-Singapore-Sanya-Shenzhen route, said SF Airlines, China's largest cargo airline by size.

The flight on this route is scheduled to operate once a week, with a cargo volume of about 100 tons.

This air cargo route connects China's “Greater Bay Area” region of Guangdong-Xiangyang-Aomen and the Hainan Free Trade Port with Singapore.

Export goods collected across China will be shipped to Singapore via this route. The imported goods will then be delivered to Sanya, a popular coastal tourist destination in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, the airline said.

A seafarer has lost his life in the inferno of the newly built container ship Maersk Frankfurt, as firefighters continue to battle the flames three days after the fire broke out on 19 July.

The Panama-flagged 5,920 TEU Maersk Frankfurt, delivered to Japanese tonnage provider Tokei Kaiun from Imabari Shipbuilding in June, is on a three-year time charter to Maersk Line. Bernhard Schulte provides technical management to the ship.

Manned by 21 seafarers, Maersk Frankfurt sent a distress call while it was in the Arabian Sea, 50 nautical miles off Karwar, India, while sailing from Mundra to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Panama Maritime Authority said in a statement, “The ship's operator reports a body in the lashing bridge, but it is impossible to reach it because of the flames. The Indian authorities are focusing their efforts to fight the fire and guarantee the safety of the ship and the crew.”

Indian officials said they suspect a short circuit could have caused the fire, although other media reports speculated that dangerous goods could have been the reason.

Maersk Frankfurt is assigned to the Danish carrier’s Far East Asia-Indian Subcontinent service, on which Ocean Network Express (ONE) is a co-loader. EconDB shows that just two days before the fire, Maersk Frankfurt departed India's Mundra port for Colombo, expecting to arrive 21 July.

A spokesperson for Maersk told Container News: “It is with deep regret that the ship managers have confirmed the passing of one of the crew members following the fire incident. The rest of the crew members are safe and accounted for. The vessel owner and ship managers are in touch with the crew and are ensuring all possible support is extended to them.”

She stressed that the cause of the fire is not known yet, adding that putting out the blaze is the current priority.