default_image
© Khunaspix Dreamstime.

Asia-Europe shippers should “brace themselves” for an extensive round of blanked sailings in the final weeks of the year, and a subsequent plunge in service integrity, as ocean carriers attempt to address “endemic overcapacity”, according to shipping analyst SeaIntel.

Voiding sailings in the slack season is ...

To read this article you need to subscribe.

Help us to continue to invest in award-winning independent journalism. For an introductory offer of just £70 a year, or £10 per month, get access to all our daily news stories and opinion. If you are already a registered user, please login below with your current account's email and password to subscribe. If you are not registered and want to subscribe, please register below to subscribe.
Current subscriber
New subscriber

Comment on this article


You must be logged in to post a comment.
  • Ricky Forman

    October 21, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Shippers should “brace themselves” for the Nov+Dec capacity withdrawal but it should be noted they are not just the innocent victim in all of this. The carrier/shipper relationship is essentially non existent resulting in a tug of war of rates throughout the year. If contract rates were agreed at more realistic levels, Carriers wouldn’t have to take such drastic measures in the spot market to subsidise their short fall. Carriers actions of ordering new tonnage have further contributed to the issue, so its fair to say both parties are as bad as each other. Until the market/industry realises there is another way of doing business (via hedging rate risk) it will continue to waste each others valuable time and resources and nothing will change.