News / Intra-Asia – richer pickings for carriers, or another potential victim of bigger ships?

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Embattled ocean carriers, struggling to turn a profit on the Asia-Europe and transpacific tradelanes, are increasingly turning to intra-Asia trades for a better return, according to Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly.

Drewry says the attraction for deepsea carriers is the availability of cheap charter ships and “higher than usual” cargo growth.

“Seldom does a month pass without the announcement of at least one new regional service – some of which now deploy vessels of over 4,000teu.”

Indeed, it is estimated that over 30 million ...