The three container shipping alliances are still short of 36 ships, or 10% of the required tonnage, to entirely fulfill their 25 Asia – Europe loops as of 10 May.

Despite record newbuilding deliveries this year, and 1.14 million TEUs delivered so far, the Red Sea crisis has soaked up all available tonnage.

Alphaliner’s report says, “Taking into account that the average vessel size on this trade currently stands at 14,150 TEUs, some 509,400 extra slots are still needed. This represents 9.6% of the total capacity required to guarantee weekly sailings for all alliance loops.”

On Sunday, a welcoming ceremony of a 10,000-ton vessel was held at the Lohuang Port of Chongqing /Southwest China/ as part of the first test voyage on the Zhoushan-Chongqing direct river-sea route, which is the first such route in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

The movement of ships through the Bosporus is temporarily not carried out due to the breakdown of a vessel in the northern part of the strait. This was reported by the General Directorate of the Turkish Coast Guard on its page in X.

“The 64-meter cargo vessel Brabus [Cameroon-flagged] had a steering device breakdown near the northern entrance to the Bosphorus Strait,. Movement of vessels on the Bosporus is temporarily stopped in both directions", - reported the agency.

A tugboat and a rescue boat were promptly sent to the vessel. After the Brabus is towed away from the line of traffic to a safe zone, the strait will be reopened to maritime traffic.

Four crewmen of a Chinese domestic cargo ship are missing after the vessel hit Jiujiang Bridge in Foshan in China's Guangdong province on 22 April.

The ship, whose name was not released, was carrying 4,900 tonnes of rolled steel along the Yangtze River from Fuzhou in Fujian province to Heshan in Guangdong province, when at 9.20 pm local time, it hit the base of one of the bridge pillars.

Built in 1988, Jiujiang Bridge forms part of the G240 National Highway connecting Foshan and Heshan.

Water started entering the cargo hold of the vessel, causing it to capsize. Seven of the 11 crew members were rescued, while the other four are missing.

After the incident, Foshan Municipal Party Committee Secretary Zheng Ke, Foshan Mayor Bai Tao, Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration Deputy Director Guo Weibin, among others, went to the scene to direct the rescue work.

At 6 am local time on 23 April, more than 300 police officers and maritime rescue personnel were deployed to search for the missing seafarers, without success. The search and rescue operations are still ongoing, and to facilitate the search, other ships are prohibited from entering the waters 3km upstream and downstream from Jiujiang Bridge.

Civil engineering experts examined the bridge and found no serious damage to its main structure but the base of the pillar, designed to withstand allisions, had scratches, and further appraisal of the bridge's structural safety was required.

In June 2007, a sand carrier hit Jiujiang Bridge, causing a 200m stretch of the bridge to collapse. Four cars on the highway, along with two construction workers, fell into the river below, killing eight persons.

The U.S. theory of China's "overcapacity" is aimed at hitting Chinese industry, another example of economic coercion and bullying by the United States. This was stated by Lin Jian, spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday.

Lin Jian made the statement while commenting on the issue of "overcapacity" in China, which has been hyped recently by the United States.

Accusations of China's "overcapacity" are nothing new, Lin Jian said at a regular briefing for journalists, recalling that a few years ago the United States accused China of "overcapacity" for exporting large quantities of high-quality and cheap products.

Now, the Chinese diplomat continued, the United States is labeling China's exports of new energy products as "overcapacity." "The United States exports 80 percent of its microchips, especially high-tech microchips, and yet it is a major exporter of pork and agricultural products. Can this be called an example of 'overcapacity' according to American logic?" -- Lin Jian wondered.

In fact, the Chinese diplomat pointed out, the ratio of exports of new-energy vehicles to production is much lower than in Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea. "We certainly do not have to talk about 'selling surplus production to the world market' here," -- the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman noted.

Lin Jian pointed out that the "overcapacity" issue appears to be purely economic at first glance, but in fact the United States is using it to restrain and pressure Chinese industry, thereby giving the United States itself an unfair advantage in market competition. This is another example of economic coercion and bullying by the United States, the Chinese diplomat stated.

He noted that in today's world, supply and demand are global in nature, and each country's production capacity is determined by its comparative advantage. This should be viewed from an objective, dialectical and rational point of view based on the laws of economics, Lin Jian emphasized.

He said China has taken the lead in new energy sources due to its real potential, scientific and technological innovation and full-scale market competition.

"A sick person does not get well by forcing others to take the medicine," -- Lin Jian reminded, adding that those who use "overcapacity" to justify protectionism gain nothing, but only destabilize global value chains, harm nascent industries, and hinder the international community's common efforts to combat climate change and green transition.

"We call on the United States to abandon hegemonic thinking, adopt an open-minded approach, follow fair competition, practically abide by the principles of market economy and international trade and economic rules, ensure a truly internationalized, market-based and legal environment for trade and economic cooperation, and work together with the international community to promote the development of inclusive economic globalization that benefits all," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson summarized.