Ocean carriers are facing difficulties in ensuring weekly sailings from Asia to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope routing, despite the addition of 425,000 TEU of newbuild capacity this year, says an article published on loadstar website.
Summary
- Ocean carriers struggle to maintain weekly sailings from Asia to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope routing despite adding 425,000 TEU of newbuild capacity.
- Extended voyages pose a challenge for carriers in adhering to revised proforma schedules, requiring additional vessels.
- Carriers adopt a hybrid strategy, adding extra vessels, speeding up ships, and supplementing with chartered ships to fill network gaps.
- Newbuild deliveries, ranging from 13,200 TEU to 24,000 TEU, are insufficient to sustain revised schedules for alliance carriers.
- Extra loaders are deployed between Asia and Europe, mainly utilizing smaller ships, post-Chinese New Year slow period.
Challenges Of Extended Voyages
According to an analysis by Alphaliner, extended voyages pose a challenge for carriers trying to adhere to revised proforma schedules. Additional vessels are required to guarantee all scheduled departures.
Hybrid Strategy Adopted By Carriers
Carriers are employing a hybrid strategy of adding extra vessels, speeding up ships, and supplementing with additional sailings using chartered ships of any size to fill gaps in their networks.
Insufficient Capacity Despite Newbuild Deliveries
Despite receiving several newbuilds, including vessels ranging from 13,200 TEU to 24,000 TEU, alliance carriers find the influx of capacity insufficient to sustain revised schedules.
Deployment Of Extra Loaders
Carriers have deployed extra loaders between Asia and Europe, mainly utilizing smaller ships, during the traditionally slow period after Chinese New Year.
Struggles Of Ocean Alliance And Coping By 2M Alliance
The Ocean Alliance has faced challenges in finding additional ships to support its network, particularly on services from Central China to the Mediterranean. In contrast, the 2M Alliance, with MSC and Maersk benefitting from newbuild deliveries, has coped better with the tonnage requirement.
Impact On Idle Fleet And Charter Market
The fortnightly idle fleet report by Alphaliner has recorded the lowest level of inactive container vessels in almost two years, indicating a highly active containership charter market. Daily hire rates for 12-month charters are increasing across all sectors, with smaller sizes particularly in demand for Mediterranean feeding.
Red Sea Crisis Influence
The current scenario and outlook for liner shipping and containership owners are influenced by the Red Sea crisis. Without this crisis, the situation would be notably different.
Underlying Overcapacity Situation
Alphaliner highlights the underlying chronic overcapacity situation in the industry, fueled by an ‘ordering frenzy’ driven by two years of pandemic-demand mega-profits by carriers.
Risk Of Overcapacity
Despite carriers adding newbuildings to their fleets, the risk of overcapacity in the liner sector remains. Any resolution of the Red Sea conflict in the short- or middle-term could render many ships redundant.
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Source: loadstar
