News / 'Genuine partnerships' are what box shipping needs, not a 'power dynamic'

Photo: © Igor Gromov, dreamstime.com

The sharp rise in transpacific spot rates could prompt a fresh influx of non-alliance container services on the Asia-US west coast trade, according to new analysis from Sea-Intelligence. 

In its Sunday Spotlight, the analyst examined a potential relationship between freight rate levels and the amount of capacity operated by carriers outside the major vessel-sharing alliances, finding a strong correlation stretching back more than a decade. 

Using data from its Trade Capacity Outlook database, Sea-Intelligence tracked weekly capacity deployed between Asia and the North American west coast from 2015 through to the end of August 2026. 

The data shows a dramatic spike in non-alliance capacity during the pandemic boom, when freight rates surged to record highs. Conversely, non-alliance services were among the first to be withdrawn during the early stages of the subsequent downturn. 

“High freight rates often result in an influx of smaller, niche carriers. And conversely, that low freight rates result in these smaller carriers withdrawing from what is seen as an unprofitable market,” Sea-Intelligence explained. 

A four-week rolling average of capacity deployment, compared against weekly Shanghai-Los Angeles spot rates from Drewry’s World Container Index showed an 83% correlation with spot rates after a 15-week lag. 

Source: Sea-Intelligence

“It would therefore be correct to conclude that there is a quite strong correlation between spot rates and the non-alliance market share of the operated capacity… it mainly takes some 15 weeks before we see rate changes reflected in capacity deployment,” said Sea-Intelligence.  

A predictive model based solely on spot rate developments also closely matched actual non-alliance market share over time. 

Source: Sea-Intelligence

However, the analyst explained that, since the launch of the industry’s new alliance structure in early 2025, non-alliance capacity had remained around five percentage points below the level predicted by the model. 

Source: Sea-Intelligence

Sea-Intelligence said recent increases in transpacific rates had yet to translate into announcements of new independent services. Nevertheless, if the relationship observed since 2015 continued to hold, the market could soon see a significant injection of capacity.

The analyst concluded: “We should therefore expect announcements of sizeable injections of new transpacific services to the west coast by either non-alliance carriers or by alliance carriers launching [their] own services outside the scope of their alliances.” 

Meanwhile, James Hookham, director of the Global Shippers Forum told The Loadstar Podcast that the concentration of market share held by the four alliances, and 10 carriers, should be of concern to shippers.  

“The dynamic is obviously, and always has been, in shipping lines’ favour, given the concentration of market power there,” he said. 

“In the long run, this has got to be of concern to everyone in the industry. We shouldn’t have a power dynamic; we should have genuine partnerships.”