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Boeing's 777F now most widely operated freighter globally

Boeing's 777 freighter is now the most widely operated freighter in the world, according to data supplied by the US aircraft manufacturer. The 777F fleet has surpassed 330 airplanes in service and now carries more air cargo per year than any other type of freighter, said Boeing. Due to its high utilisation on long-haul routes, the 777F fleet provides around 40% of global freighter capacity, the company added. "The Boeing 777 Freighter fleet has overtaken the in-service fleet of 747 freighters of all types to become the most widely operated freighter in the world today," said Boeing. In 2025, the 777F undertook 6,250 flight hours, with an average of more than 17 flight hours per day. Additionally, 80% of freighter flights over 6,000 nmi were flown by 777Fs. Last year, the value of global trade carried by the 777F fleet was estimated to be around $4trn, according to the aircraft manufacturer. The longevity of the 777F was boosted in September when the FAA granted Boeing an emissions exemption for the aircraft model that will enable it to continue selling them beyond the end of 2027. The decision by the FAA means that Boeing, which filed its emissions exemption request in December and had requested that the exemption be approved by 1 May, can sell 35 more 777Fs that will be eligible for a Certificate of Airworthiness. The aircraft manufacturer's order and delivery data for 2026 shows that six 777Fs have been ordered this year. On the deliveries front, Boeing's data shows that 20 of the model have been delivered so far this year. There are also a total of 38 unfilled orders to date. There have now been firm orders for more than 450 777Fs and 777-8Fs combined.

MSC the most reliable carrier - hits and misses for Gemini

MSC was the most reliable carrier across the east-west container trades in August and September, hitting reliability of 68.9%, narrowly ahead of the Gemini Cooperation at 68.4%, according to Sea-Intelligence. The result marks a reversal for Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd as their reliability fell 9.4 percentage points, month on month, to 68.4%. MSC also declined, but by a more modest 1.2 percentage points, allowing it to take the lead. The performance remained well short of Gemini's stated ambition of around 90% reliability, although performance varied significantly by trade. According to recent Sea-Intelligence data, Gemini maintained strong reliability on several routes, including Asia-North Europe, where it did achieve 92.9%, compared with MSC's 78.2%. And on Asia-Mediterranean, Gemini achieved 83.2%, against MSC's 77.1%. Industry consultant Lara Jensen noted that for Gemini, the overall "low performance" was particularly driven by the backhaul trades from North America and Europe to Asia. And he added: "And is hence likely a consequence of the typhoon-induced issues in Far East ports." The transatlantic, however, remained a particular strength for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, achieving reliability of 98.7% on North America East Coast-Mediterranean, and 97% on North America East Coast-North Europe. On the westbound transatlantic, reliability reached 100% on Mediterranean-North America East Coast and 91.1% on North Europe-North America East Coast. But Gemini's performance was dragged down by an overall decline across the east-west network, with MSC proving more resilient. Industry-wide, schedule reliability on the east-west trades fell 3.5 percentage points month on month, to 53.6% in August and September. The Ocean Alliance achieved reliability of 44.8%, down 3.4 percentage points, while the Premier Alliance declined 1.5 points, to 41.5%. The latest figures continue persistently weak container shipping schedule reliability. Across the 13 largest carriers, reliability edged up by just 0.9 percentage points in September, to 50.6%, following three consecutive monthly declines that wiped 14.8 percentage points off the May peak of 64.5%. Average delay for late vessel arrivals improved by 0.3 days, to 6.65 days, but remained the second-highest September figure on record, according to Sea-Intelligence. Maersk was the most reliable individual carrier last month, at 64.8%, followed by Hapag-Lloyd, at 60.4%. MSC recorded 57.7%, while CMA CGM reached 51.8%. None of the 13 carriers improved their reliability compared with September 2025. Zim saw the smallest decline, at 8.7 percentage points, while Pacific International Lines (PIL) suffered the largest, 27.3 points. Sea-Intelligence also found that on-time performance diverged sharply across individual tradelanes. Reliability on Asia-North America west coast fell 7.1 percentage points month on month, to 53.5%, while Asia-North America east coast dropped 8.6 points, to 53%. East coast South America-Asia saw the largest monthly decline across the 34 lanes monitored, falling 11 percentage points, to just 28.2%. By contrast, Europe-Oceania reliability improved 7.5 points, to 74.2%. The figures underline the gap between alliance-level ambitions and the operational performance shippers are experiencing. Although Gemini continues to deliver high reliability on selected European and transatlantic routes, MSC's stronger overall result highlights the challenge of maintaining consistent schedules across a global network.

Cyclone Arnab brings more disruption along India's eastern coast

Vessel-handling services have been suspended or restricted across several major ports along India's east coast since Monday, due to Cyclone Arnab warnings. The severe storm made landfall on India's eastern coastline this morning, bringing huge swells and gale winds across the region, according to reports. One key gateway port that suspended all operations until further notice was Visakhapatnam, a critical feeder port for Maersk's coverage out of India's east coast, especially for cargo moving in and out of Kolkata. Kuehne+Nagel told customers: "Potentially impacted container ports include Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, and Krishnapatnam, all of which have received cyclone or storm warnings as Arnab approaches India's east coast." Industry sources in India believe the port suspensions could inevitably cause congestion and delays to freight flow, but the scale will only be known when terminals fully reopen. "Visakhapatnam terminals are slowly getting back to business, in tandem with government guidelines and updates," one carrier official told The Loadstar. "The ports were told to keep operations suspended as part of contingency planning." According to the latest updates, the cyclonic storm claimed three lives in India's Andhra Pradesh State, in addition to causing extensive damage to residential properties and utility installations in the region. Several Indian ports had already been experiencing operational pressures due to widespread vessel bunching tied to delayed arrivals from Asian origin ports, and "the cyclone disruption is another blow to the supply chains", said a Visakhapatnam-based ship agent. Visakhapatnam handled 302,926 teu year-to-date through September, edging down from 308,861 teu year on year, according to data collected by The Loadstar. Meanwhile, the authorities in Bangladesh issued similar cautionary alerts for ports as the cyclone threatened gusty weather over the northern Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal areas. "Cyclonic Storm Arnab has formed over the east-central and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal and is forecast to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm before making landfall along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts on 28 October," London-based port agency service provider Inchcape Shipping Services told customers. Congestion and operational disruption issues are not limited to the Indian coast. K+N also reported an average vessel waiting time of two days across terminals in Sri Lanka's Colombo port, "due to ongoing transhipment congestion, missed feeder connections, vessel omissions and routing changes", the company said.