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Hacis targets Vietnam cargo with road feeder route to HKIA

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is looking to capture more Vietnamese export traffic through a new road-air corridor that takes cargo from Hanoi through mainland China before connecting with flights from Hong Kong. But while Hacis, the value-added logistics arm of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl), has completed the first trial movement, a regular scheduled service has yet to be launched, and will depend on customer demand. The pilot shipment was coffee beans on a customs-bonded truck from Hanoi through the Wuzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone in China's Guangxi region, before continuing to HKIA. Hacis told The Loadstar that Wuzhou acted as the transit and transfer point for the cargo, where it was transferred to a truck equipped with a Single E-lock for the remainder of the journey through mainland China into Hong Kong. The Single E-lock scheme allows customs authorities in mainland China and Hong Kong to monitor cargo using the same electronic lock and reference one another's inspection results, reducing the risk of duplicate inspections at the Hong Kong boundary. However, it does not cover the entire journey from Vietnam. Standard customs procedures still apply when the cargo enters China from Vietnam, with the Single E-lock arrangement beginning at Wuzhou. Hacis said the journey from the Vietnam-China border to HKIA took approximately 30.5 hours, although was not the complete transit time from Hanoi, including the initial road leg, border clearance, and transfer at Wuzhou. The company said the service was intended to provide an alternative where shippers did not want to rely solely on direct air connections from Vietnam, while giving them access to HKIA's extensive international flight network. Following the pilot, Hacis is working with logistics partners and customers to develop regular services, "based on market demand". Details of schedules, frequency, and expected cargo volumes have not yet been confirmed. Nor did it disclose an indicative price or quantify the claimed savings compared with flying cargo directly from Vietnam. However, it did add that it was "actively exploring opportunities to further expand the network in line with market demand and operational feasibility". The operation is being developed with Vietnamese logistics company U&I Logistics and is intended to carry freight in both directions. This would allow Vietnamese exports to travel by road to HKIA for onward flights, while imports could move through the airport and mainland China into Vietnam. Target traffic includes electronics, industrial products, garments, and agricultural commodities, as well as high-value and time-sensitive shipments. Ringo Chan, executive director of Hacis, said the Vietnam trial marked the first expansion of its SuperLink China Direct road-feeder model beyond mainland China. "By linking Vietnam with Hong Kong's extensive global air cargo network, the new service provides customers with more routing options and greater flexibility, while generating additional cargo flows through Hong Kong and creating new opportunities for the logistics industry," he added. Hacis said it was also exploring the potential to extend the road-air network into other Asian markets, although no further countries or trials have yet been identified.

Box shipping reliability the worst since 2022 - 'a new normal', says DP World

Global container shipping reliability is at its lowest level for four years, as the congestion in Asia continues to disrupt liner operations. According to Sea-Intelligence, schedule reliability fell by 5.9 percentage points month on month in August, to 49.9%, marking the second consecutive monthly decline. The analyst said: "In the backdrop of severe port congestion in Asia, global schedule has declined sharply month on month for the second consecutive month... This is the lowest point since September 2022." The deterioration was reflected in vessel delays: the average for late-arriving ships increased 0.6 days, month on month, to 6.81 days - the highest since March 2022, and 1.92 days higher than at this time last year. Among the 13 largest carriers tracked by Sea-Intelligence, Maersk recorded the best schedule reliability last month, with 67.3% on-time arrivals, followed by Hapag-Lloyd's 61.5%. MSC and CMA CGM recorded reliability of 55.2% and 50.6%, respectively, while Wan Hai was the least-reliable of the group, at just 23.2%. No top-13 carrier improved its reliability over the month. ONE recorded the smallest decline, 3.5 percentage points, while PIL suffered the largest decline, of 10.1 points. Year on year, all 13 carriers recorded proved less reliable. Maersk's decline of 8.9 percentage points was the smallest, while PIL's 31.1 point fall was the largest - one of 12 carriers to record a double-digit year-on-year decline. The deterioration was particularly pronounced across the major east-west trades. Based on rolling July/August data, reliability on the Asia-North America west coast route fell 8.8 percentage points, to 60.6%, while Asia-North America east coast fell 9.6 points, to 61.7%. Asia-North Europe schedule reliability declined 2.4 points, to 62.3%, while Asia-Mediterranean fell 3.7 points, to 61.8%. Only three of 34 tradelanes saw any month-on-month improvement in reliability - Oceania-North America posted the largest gain, up 8.4 points to 97.6%, while Asia-East Coast South America suffered the largest decline, down 16.6 points to 56.4%. Across the east-west shipping alliances, average reliability fell 7.4 points to 57.2%. Gemini remained the most reliable, at 77.8%, followed the Ocean Alliance, at 48.3%, and the Premier Alliance. at 43.2%. Standalone carrier MSC was at 70.1%. Sea-Intelligence's figures come as DP World warned that disruption was becoming a structural feature of global trade rather than a series of isolated events. Its latest white paper notes: "Geopolitical tensions, evolving trade policies, climate-related disruption, and shifting manufacturing footprints are reshaping how cargo moves around the world. These are not isolated challenges. Together, they represent a structural shift in the way global trade is organised." The operator highlighted the Red Sea crisis as an example of how quickly shipping networks could be reshaped, noting that traffic through the Suez Canal last year fell to around half its 2024 level, while vessel capacity re-routing around the Cape of Good Hope increased 89%. "Longer journeys increased transit times, costs and emissions, while reducing schedule reliability," DP World said.

Cosco finds a way round car-carrier shortage to get BYDs to Brazil

Cosco Shipping Specialized Carriers, has started shipping BYD electric vehicles in frame containers to Brazil from Zhuhai Port, in China's Guangdong province. The move is a solution to the shortage of car-carrier vessels (PCTCs) and meet the high demand from Brazil, which is now the largest importer of Chinese cars, buying $5.2bn-worth between January and May. The first such shipment took place last week from the port's Gaolan Container Terminal, when 1,408 BYD cars were loaded on Cosco Shipping's Green Itapoa for Brazil's Vitoria port - the single largest vehicle export from Gaolan and the first time Zhuhai had employed the general cargo ship and frame container model for electric vehicle shipment. With Chinese EV exports surging past a million units a month, the global PCTC fleet is overwhelmed. Cosco's solution is that instead of driving vehicles into the decks of car-carriers, they are secured into foldable, patented frame containers that can be loaded onto multipurpose ships. Anticipating growing demand for vehicle transport, Cosco Shipping ordered 15 such ships, at 77,000 dwt, including Green Itapoa, to be built at the group's shipyard in Dalian. The ships have box-shaped cargo holds and include upgrades specifically for vehicle transport - the frame containers and a "one-to-one real-time temperature monitoring and warning system" for new-energy vehicles, as their lithium-ion batteries are prone to fires. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers statistics show China exported nearly 5.1m vehicles during the first six months of 2026, up 65.3% year on year. New EV exports exceeded 2.3m units, more than double the previous year. In a related development, MSC subsidiary Global Car Carriers, formed after its acquisition of Gram two years ago, is understood to have ordered eight new 8,600 ceu vessels from Chinese yards. The deal takes its orderbook to 20 vessels - 16 at 8,600 ceu and four at 7,000 ceu - scheduled for delivery between 2028 and 2030.