Rapid ramp-up in Transpacific blank sailings
There have been 34 additional blank sailings announced on Asia-NAWC and 16 on Asia-NAEC
The number of blank sailings for week 42-52 have been ramped up drastically on the Transpacific but not so much on Asia-Europe, says Sea-Intelligence in its latest update.
"We looked at how the carriers were reacting (in terms of blanking sailings) to the collapse of demand, especially of the imports to North America and Europe," says Alan Murphy, CEO, Sea-Intelligence.
There have been 34 additional blank sailings announced on the Asia-North America West Coast and 16 on the Asia-North America East Coast. "For the former, carriers have announced an extra 7-11 blank sailings in all but five weeks of the analysed period. However, for weeks 51 and 52, carriers have scheduled no blank sailings on Asia-North America West Coast, which is a reflection of the carriers' indecision as to how to approach the potential pre-Chinese New Year rush. It appears more to be a wait-and-see approach, in terms of whether there will be a seasonal demand spike."
On Asia-Europe however, there is no similar trend with Asia-North Europe only seeing an additional six blank sailings, and Asia-Mediterranean seeing an additional four blank sailings, the update said.
