News / Lines remain reluctant to idle boxships, despite weaker demand and falling rates

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The number of containerships in hot or cold lay-up is still surprisingly low, given the weak demand on many of the world’s trade lanes. According to the latest survey from Alphaliner, there were 181 ships of above 500teu laid-up as of 7 October, representing 443,000teu of slots – still some way short of the 300-boxship level recorded as inactive at the same period in the past two years.

There is no doubt that the number of idle containerships will increase in ...