News / Fears that transatlantic rates may sink under the weight of extra tonnage

Photo: Ellerman

Ocean carriers are upgrading tonnage and shifting capacity to North Europe-US east coast services, where spot rates remain high.

Ellerman City Liners will launch a transatlantic service next month, deploying ships used on its China-UK express service, while Ocean Alliance members are beefing-up their presence on the route by phasing-in 14,000-teu vessels to replace smaller tonnage.

As container spot rates for Asian exports collapsed over the past few months, FAK rates on the headhaul route from North Europe to the US east ...