News / More carriers must blank voyages to avoid transatlantic rate collapse

© Vladimir Serebryanskiy

Transatlantic demand continues to be hit by the pandemic, obliging carriers to extend voyage-blanking programmes and putting rates under pressure.

2M partners Maersk and MSC announced today they were extending the suspension of their TA4/NEUATL4 transatlantic loop to the end of September outbound from Europe, and to early October from the US.

Maersk said the service suspension was being extended “due to continued market demand reductions in North America and Europe”.

The loop, which has been suspended since May, deploys five vessels with ...