Lack of containers is complex, says Drewry
The maritime consultancy Drewry reports that container shipping remains disrupted by box equipment shortages which are restricting available capacity and so forcing freight rates to record highs. However, the analysis shows that this is being driven by empty container repositioning issues rather than inadequate fleet.
According to Drewry’s Container Equipment Forecaster, the global ocean-borne container equipment fleet is expected to end the year having declined 1.1% to 39.9 million teu, compared to a 3.3% projected fall in 2020 global container port handling. Thus, the change is less pronounced than it seems.
Yet Drewry said: "It is the disruption to container supply chains wrought by the unprecedented number of blanked sailings, which reached as high as 30% of sailings on some trades back in Q2/2020, that led to the current shortage of empty containers in key cargo demand centres such as China." (cd)