Now that we are nearly a third of the way through the traditional container shipping peak cargo season, planned blank sailings and capacity deployment for the remainder of the third quarter can provide us a good perspective on the carriers’ confidence in the 2024 peak season, says the latest update from Sea-Intelligence. On Asia-North America West Coast, carriers have so far planned to blank 3.9 percent of the total capacity, which is not too different from the pre-pandemic average or from 2020. "It is, however, significantly lower than in the pandemic years (where blank sailings were forced due to port congestion). Given this strong capacity growth and the relatively low blank sailings level, it suggests that the carriers are bullish for the peak season on this trade lane, the update added. The fact that carriers are willing to maintain that level of elevated capacity on Asia-North Europe in 2024, coupled with the relatively low level of blank sailings, indicates the carriers have a confident strong outlook for the peak season on Asia-North Europe, the update added.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 26, 2024 05:34 UTC