News / Quick response to sudden leap in demand sees Hapag-Lloyd in calmer waters

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Carriers responded quickly to the surprisingly strong rebound in east-west trades – particularly on the transpacific, where capacity was back to 2019 levels by July and last month exceeded last September by 11.6%.

The liner industry had had “no other option” at the start of the pandemic, when demand plummeted, than to start aggressive blanking of sailings, said Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen in an update yesterday.

“If 20% of our volume is gone, then we are, all of a sudden, missing ...