World Shipping Council

If you spot a whale during a voyage, reporting it can help researchers and authorities understand where whales are and how they behave. 🐋 With thousands of ships operating around the world, crews can act as eyes on the water. The World Shipping Council’s Whale Chart maps measures for ships to report whale sightings to local authorities, bringing that guidance together in one easy-to-access place. Thank you Alice Bouchard (@iwc_int), Russell Leaper (@ifawglobal ) and Wei Jun Mun (World Shipping Council) for your insights in this video. We'd also like to thank to @OceanSoulsFilms , Adam Ernster Wildlife, Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program, and WhaleSpotter for use of your footage in this video. Learn more about the WSC Whale Chart: worldshipping.org/whales

Guess the port 🚢 Three clues this time: ⚓️ For more than a century, a large share of the world’s coffee has been shipped out from here. ⚓️ The beach here is lined with the longest beachfront garden in the world, over 5 km of flowers and palm trees. ⚓️ Football legend Pelé played most of his career for the local club. Drop your guess below, where are we?

We've brought whale protection measures from around the world together in one digital map. Here's a look at how we made it happen. 🐋 The new digital WSC Whale Chart started as a data engineering job: taking maritime rules from different countries and authorities and turning them into something that can sit on a modern map. For each area, it tells mariners what to do (slow down, steer clear), when it applies (all year, seasonal or ad hoc), and exactly where. It also supports dynamic zones that flag when a whale is spotted in real time, and shows where to report sightings, strandings or injured whales. And it’s free, now with a digital version that makes it easier to access. Explore the WSC Whale Chart: worldshipping.org/whales #WhaleChart #Whales #Shipping #Seafarers Big thanks to @HubOcean_ - and thanks to @OceanSoulsFilms , Adam Ernster Wildlife, and Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program.

Shipping feeds the world 🌍 Rice, coffee, fruit that’s out of season at home. A lot of what ends up on our plates has spent some time at sea. Liner shipping connects every country in the world, carrying agricultural exports and the raw materials and machinery that food production depends on. This year’s #WorldFoodDay theme from @FAO is “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.” Part of feeding people is getting food from where it’s grown to where it’s needed, reliably and on schedule. #WorldFoodDay #LinerShipping #ShippingFeedsTheWorld

Guess the port 🚢 Can you name this global shipping hub? 1⃣️ It’s Europe’s biggest port. 2⃣️ It’s port area stretches over 40 kilometres along the Dutch coastline. Leave your guess in the comments 👇 #Shipping #Mairitime

🐋 The WSC Whale Chart has gone digital. Since 2023, we've mapped all known mandatory and voluntary governmental measures designed to reduce harm to whales from vessels, including speed restrictions, routing measures, areas to be avoided and measures addressing underwater radiated noise. Now, through our partnership with HUB Ocean, those measures are easier to explore, easier to keep up to date and can plug directly into digital tools and operational systems. 💻 The new digital WSC Whale Chart is available through HUB Ocean’s Ocean Data Platform, making this global information more accessible to mariners, ship operators, governments, researchers and others working to reduce the impact of shipping on whales. We have also updated our handbook WSC Whale Chart which is available to download on our website. 👉 Explore the new digital WSC Whale Chart: worldshipping.org/whales.

Yesterday, WSC's Chairman Soren Toft delivered a keynote speech at the State of the Port 2026 conference in Hamburg. The conference brought together leaders from across the maritime and logistics sectors to explore global developments shaping shipping today, before turning to the implications for European markets and the Port of Hamburg. 🔈 In his remarks, Soren emphasized that resilience in global supply chains is a shared responsibility. Freedom of navigation must be protected. Ports need continued investment in flexible, efficient and lower-emission infrastructure. Regulators must provide stable and globally coherent frameworks. And the entire supply chain must work together before disruption occurs, not only after it begins. 🤝 A sincere thank you to Port of Hamburg Marketing for hosting this important event, and to Melanie Leonhard from Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg and Jens Meier from the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) Anstalt öffentlichen Rechts for their valuable contributions and insights to the conference. 📷 Photos Credit: @PortofHamburg #Maritime #Shipping #PortOfHamburg #GlobalTrade #SupplyChainResilience

Here’s your cargo safety recap from our team on the ground at the IMO CCC meeting earlier this month, Lars Kjaer and George Charalampidis. 👇 The @IMOHQ is where international shipping regulations are developed. Its Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC) tackles issues including the carriage of packaged dangerous goods and containers. Here’s what was on the agenda: 🔋 Safer battery transport: Governments backed our call for action to close the safety gap around the SP188 small battery exemption, as well as our proposed way forward. WSC also brought industry and government representatives together with experts from the United States and Belgium to discuss the UN’s proposed battery classification overhaul and the challenges posed by SP188. 🚢 Reducing container losses: Finalisation of the revised guidelines for the preparation of the Cargo Securing Manual, including a harmonized performance standard for lashing software to help reduce the number of containers lost at sea. 📦 Safer cargo packing: Adoption by the IMO of the revised CTU Code, which provides guidance on packing and securing cargo in containers and other transport units. 🔎 Identifying cargo risks earlier: George presented the WSC Cargo Safety Program, highlighting how technology can strengthen cargo screening and support targeted inspections to help prevent incidents. Thank you to everyone who joined the discussions and shared their expertise. This work has a shared purpose: protecting crews, ships, cargo and the marine environment. #Safety #Shipping #IMO #Seafarers #Batteries

🚢Two container ships, seventy years apart. SS Ideal X, 1956: 160 metres, carrying 58 boxes. @msccargo's Irina, today: 399.9 metres, 24.346 TEU. TEU is how the shipping industry counts capacity. One TEU is one standard 20-foot container, so Irina holds the equivalent of 24,346 of them. She's long enough to hold Ideal X two and a half times end to end, and wide enough to put three of her side by side. Her containers go up 26 tiers. Delivered in 2023? Still the biggest container ship afloat. #MSCIrina #Shipping

🇺🇸 🧀 🚢  $4.4 billion worth of U.S. dairy was exported by container ship in 2025. Milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream and baby formula. Most of it comes from California, Washington, Florida, Wisconsin and Idaho. Most of it goes to Asia and the Pacific, with Japan the biggest buyer at $457 million. Dairy is one of the least forgiving things to ship. It has a clock on it from the moment it leaves the plant, which means the schedule reliability matters as much as the vessel. What's the furthest you've seen an American brand on a shelf abroad? #Shipping #usa @USDairyExporter 👉 Read more about how liner shipping keeps the U.S. economy moving: worldshipping.org/us-liner-s…

🇺🇳 Recently in Geneva, our President & CEO Joe Kramek spoke at @UNCTAD’s session “Hormuz in crisis: protecting vulnerable economies” at the #WTOPublicForum 2026, where the discussion centred on how governments and industry can strengthen preparedness for maritime chokepoint disruptions. 🚢 Joe highlighted how attacks on shipping is putting stress on global trade. Ocean carriers are resilient and adapt to keep supply chains moving, but it comes at a cost, with seafarers at risk and the most vulnerable economies feeling the impact most. 🤝 Governments must work together to protect freedom of navigation and the right of passage, keeping commercial shipping moving safely through vital maritime routes. 👉 Watch Joe’s video below to hear more. #Shipping #Safety @wto 👉 Read more about the freedom of navigation here: worldshipping.org/freedom-of…

🇺🇳 Yesterday, WSC’s Anna Larsson and George Charalampidis were honoured to join industry leaders at the IMO’s World Maritime Event at IMO Headquarters in London. It was an inspiring gathering focused on the people, policies and partnerships that drive maritime progress. 🤝A big thank you to @IMOSecGen for his leadership and his commitment to strengthening global maritime safety and sustainability. 👷‍♀️ 👷‍♂️ 🌿WSC is working alongside the @IMOHQ in advancing this year’s Maritime Policy to Practice theme. Together, we are supporting efforts that protect seafarers and uphold freedom of navigation. These priorities are essential for a resilient global supply chain and a safer maritime future. #IMO #Seafarers #FreedomofNavigation #MaritimePolicytoPractice

👷‍♂️👷‍♀️ Today we celebrate #WorldMaritimeDay and join the global maritime community in highlighting this year’s IMO theme #MaritimePolicytoPractice. 🇺🇳This theme is a reminder that global rules only deliver impact when they are put into practice. We call on the International Maritime Organization and its Member States to ensure that the regulatory frameworks that exist and are being developed are not only adopted in principle but translated into clear and effective national legislation, especially in areas that protect seafarers. 🌐 The safety of seafarers who make global trade possible should be non-negotiable. Freedom of navigation must be upheld everywhere. The ability of merchant ships to move through international waterways safely and predictably is essential for resilient supply chains, economic stability and energy security. 📚 Global rules only deliver impact when they are put into practice. That includes fully implementing core @IMOHQ's instruments such as SOLAS, which sets the international standard for keeping seafarers safe, and upholding the right to free transit passage through international straits. 🚢 Today we celebrate the people who keep trade moving and reaffirm our commitment to a safe, sustainable and resilient maritime future. 👉 Read more about World Maritime Day here: imo.org/en/about/events/page…

🇺🇸 Liner shipping moves $1.5 trillion in U.S. trade each year, accounting for about 64% of the country’s seaborne trade. 🚢 Last week, WSC’s Tamekia Flack, John Walsh and Nicholas Tabori, alongside representatives from World Shipping Council member lines, spent two full days on Capitol Hill highlighting the economic contribution of liner shipping and the operational complexity behind keeping American trade moving. ✅ From essential manufacturing inputs to agricultural exports, these services connect U.S. businesses to global markets and support millions of American jobs. 🤝 Thank you to the congressional and administration offices that met with us. We look forward to continuing the conversation. #Shipping #USA

🇺🇳 Governments at the International Maritime Organization have backed our call for action to close the safety gap around the SP188 small battery exemption, as well as our proposed way forward for addressing it. This is a really positive step towards improving the safety of shipping. Special Provision 188 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code currently exempts smaller batteries from certain requirements when they meet specified testing, packaging and capacity criteria. But there is no limit on how many exempt batteries can be consolidated in one container. 🚢 A container carrying around 4,200 laptops could therefore contain approximately 416 kWh of stored energy, equivalent to three or four electric vehicles, without requiring dangerous goods documentation or container placarding. 🔋The issue will now go to the UN dangerous goods experts later this year for a potential multimodal solution. The IMO also backed our call for an interim measure ahead of mandatory implementation in 2030. 🤝 We welcome this outcome and look forward to working with the @IMOHQ and @UN dangerous goods experts on an effective solution. #Shipping #Safety #Batteries

🌐 The almonds in a snack pack in Delhi or Hamburg most likely grew in California. 🇺🇸 $7.3 billion of U.S. tree nuts, mostly almonds and pistachios, moved by container ship in 2025. California alone accounted for $6.96 billion of exports. Texas came second at $189 million. 🚢 India is the largest destination at $1.01 billion, followed by Germany, Vietnam, Spain and Turkey. #Shipping #USA 👉 Read more about how liner shipping keeps the U.S. economy moving: worldshipping.org/us-liner-s…