Asia – USEC Trade to Lose 42% Capacity from Blank Sailings | #ShipcoViewpoint

A significant wave of blank sailings is set to impact Asia–U.S. container trade lanes, with U.S. East and Gulf Coast services facing the sharpest cuts.

Sea-Intelligence reports nine canceled sailings on the Asia–U.S. East Coast route during May 5–11, reducing capacity by 42%. The U.S. West Coast will have 10 blank sailings from April 28 to May 3, cutting capacity by -28%, and again from May 12 to 18, lowering capacity by -25%.

Sea-Intelligence indicated these last-minute cancellations signal that container demand is sharply falling. In a previous assessment, Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, predicted that last-minute blank sailings to the U.S. would be likely if there was a notable decline in bookings.

Drewry’s Blank Sailings Tracker confirms 72 planned cancellations through May. Of these, 56% affect the Trans-Pacific trades, with 31% on Asia–Europe routes and 14% on Trans-Atlantic routes.

A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson noted 30% of shipments to the U.S. from China had been canceled by its customers, while demand demand for shipments from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam is rising.

Source: The Loadstar

The market is facing significant disruptions, especially in bookings from China, with over 30% canceled. Major alliances like Ocean Alliance, Premier Alliance, and ZIM/MSC have suspended around eight to ten service strings, and more blank sailings are anticipated. In late April and early May (Weeks 17-19), over 25% of weekly services are canceled and carriers are closely monitoring developments before making further decisions on additional blank sailings.

FAK rates are projected to increase on May 1st, with further hikes expected on May 15th. Ocean carriers have announced a PSS of up to $2400/40’ on their long-term deals starting mid-May, and FAK rates are expected to follow suit into June if the situation does not improve. However, the volume from China remains considerably down, and these rate increases will depend on cargo from Southeast Asia, which, despite an increase in volumes, remains relatively soft compared to the loss of volume in China. Carriers are likely to continue reducing available space to manage capacity and sustain rates.

At Shipco Transport, we are dedicated to maintaining the continuity of our services. We have space protections in place with several carriers to ensure that our weekly LCL services are committed to load. While securing additional space remains challenging due to reduced capacity and blank sailings, our contracts with nearly all Trans-Pacific carriers provide us with a broad range of options. We can continue to support our weekly LCL services and cater to FCL, just as we did during the pandemic when we assisted forwarders who were unable to secure space through their own contracts.