Maritime Mood Monitoring: Key Trends Shaping Global Trade & Logistics This Week

🧭 TL;DR (Week of Dec 1–8)

Spot rates rebounded: Drewry composite rose ~7% w/w to ~$1,927/FEU, with Asia–Europe and Transpacific lanes firmer.
Europe congestion pressure: Carriers weighing rotation tweaks on Asia–Europe to avoid heavy gateways.
ASEAN recovery: Flooded southern Thailand ports, including Songkhla, have resumed bookings and access.
Local policy and infra notes: Italy holiday truck bans create short road bottlenecks. Chittagong terminal handover to DP World suspended pending court decision. Fremantle rail link project started. Vizhinjam hit 1M TEU in 10 months.

📊 Maritime Mood Index

Score: 6.1 / 10 — Rates off the floor, schedules still susceptible to congestion. ASEAN weather recovery improves ops, but Europe remains the watchpoint.

Security Risk: →
Rate Dynamics: ↑ Spot momentum on Asia–Europe and Transpacific.
Operational Disruptions: ↑ Europe gateway congestion and short holiday road restrictions in Italy.
Policy Pressure: → No new tariff shocks in scope this week.
Innovation Momentum: ↑ Port rail connectivity and charging automation pilots advance.

🚨 Headlines to Watch

Theme	What happened	Why it matters
Rates	Drewry WCI composite up about 7% w/w to ~$1,927/FEU, with rebounds on Asia–Europe and Transpacific corridors.	Signals carriers succeeded in holding floors into December through tighter price steps and capacity management.
Europe Ops	Carriers consider revamping Asia–Europe rotations to sidestep the most congested North Europe gateways.	Expect ad-hoc call changes and downstream berth pressure if rotations shift quickly.
ASEAN Recovery	Songkhla and other ports reopen after historic flooding; bookings resumed.	Feeder and yard ops normalizing, but missed-slot cleanup still in play.
Policy	Italy 7–8 Dec truck bans during Immaculate Conception weekend.	Short, localized road constraints around key corridors and tourist flows; plan gate timings.
Terminals	Bangladesh court split decision suspends DP World takeover of Chittagong’s NCT pending third bench.	Operator uncertainty can affect berth planning and medium-term productivity decisions.
Infrastructure	DP World starts Fremantle Rail Interchange; direct rail gate to North Quay Rail Terminal.	Fewer truck moves inside precinct and higher rail share target, supporting schedule reliability.

📊 Market Movements

Benchmarks are aligned to their native publication days and used as directional guides.

WCI composite: ~$1,927/FEU, +7% w/w [Dec 4].
Shanghai → Los Angeles: ~2,256/FEU, +8% w/w [Dec 4].
Shanghai → New York: ~2,895/FEU, +6% w/w [Dec 4].
Shanghai → Rotterdam: ~2,241/FEU, +4% w/w [Dec 4].
Shanghai → Genoa: ~2,648/FEU, +15% w/w [Dec 4].

Read: Asia–Europe firmness from FAk and weekly price steps. Transpacific shows parallel lift with smaller weekly increments.

🌍 Regional Ops Snapshot

North Europe: Congestion risk remains elevated at big gateways. Watch last-minute port swaps on AE loops.
ASEAN: Southern Thailand ports are back. Expect residual feeder rollovers during backlog clearance.
Italy: 7–8 Dec heavy-vehicle bans. Adjust dray, preload and staging to avoid restricted windows.
Bangladesh: Chittagong NCT operator outcome pending. Build berth slack and check window allocations.
Australia: Fremantle rail link under way. More rail share in 2026 should trim precinct truck moves.

✅ What to Do This Week

Book earlier on AE headhaul where carriers tweak calls. Confirm transshipment buffers at exposed hubs.
Model weekly steps in spot pricing for Jan allocations. Capture short validity offers before they roll.
Plan gates around Italy bans. Re-time pickups and returns to keep dwell in check.
Watch Chittagong windows pending NCT ruling. Keep alternatives for sensitive SKUs.

Turn these moving parts into early alerts. TRADLINX Ocean Visibility tracks blankings, port swaps, and berth windows in one timeline your customers can trust.