The pandemic-era surge in shipping costs was a “smoking gun” that foretold the global inflation spike, and the sharp drop in maritime-freight expenses since peaking last year will contribute to an easing in price pressures.

A huge backlog of ships was building up around the Suez Canal for a third day as an elite salvage team set about the monumental challenge of freeing the container vessel that’s blocking the crucial waterway.

Ship owners facing looming deadlines to use less-polluting fuels have slashed the number of new vessels on order because they don’t know which alternative technology to switch to.

The world’s largest container line is bracing for a historic slump in demand after emergency lockdowns across the globe left international trade in tatters.

The largest containership built in the United States cruised into Honolulu Harbor on Nov. 28 after three years of construction and an initial voyage from Philadelphia to California via the Panama Canal earlier this month.