Carriers cancel 21% sailings till mid-Feb: Drewry
58% blank sailings will be occurring in Transpacific Eastbound & 31% on Asia-North Europe and Med
As many as 149 cancelled sailings have been announced between weeks 2 (9-15 January) and week 6 (6-12 February) out of the total 707 scheduled sailings, representing a cancellation rate of 21 percent, according to the Cancelled Sailings Tracker by Drewry.
"During this period, 58 percent of the blank sailings will be occurring in the Transpacific Eastbound, 31 percent on Asia-North Europe and Med, and 11 percent on the Transatlantic Westbound trade."
Over the next five weeks, THE Alliance has announced 54 cancellations, followed by Ocean Alliance and 2M with 46 and 17 cancellations, respectively, the update added. "During the same period, 32 blank sailings have been implemented in non-alliance services."
Ahead of Chinese New Year (22 January), the pre-holiday cargo rush failed to match historical volumes, Drewry said in its latest update. Spot rates, however, are showing more resilience with Drewry’s composite index up 0.7 percent this week, the first increase in 43 weeks, but has dropped by 77 percent when compared with the same week last year.
The small rebound seems fragile as carriers continue to blank more sailings in anticipation of the overcapacity that is expected in the market in 2023, Drewry said in its Cancelled Sailings Tracker report.