The run of carriers in the Transpacific
The Copenhagen-based maritime consultancy Sea-Intelligence has taken an in-depth look at the current hot spot in Asia–North American west coast (NAWC) trades. After a dip in the number of distinct Asia–NAWC services, due to the pandemic – nothing new there –, there was a constant increase, “with 39 weekly liner services offered in August 2020, rising to 42 by December 2020 and finally to 53 from August 2021 onwards," as CEO Alan Murphy put it.
This growth was achieved in particular by non-alliance services, which rose significantly from 9 to 11 a weekly in 2020 and to 23 in August 2021. From a pre-pandemic level of 10 weekly non-alliance services, 13 new non-alliance services have been launched in the trade lane.
Moreover, all of these services are standalone options, that is to say the operating carrier has full allocation of the capacity on board each vessel. Three of the services are offered by newcomers in the trade (two by CU Lines and one by BAL Container Lines).
Murphy pointed out that “nearly one third of Asia–NAWC capacity in the coming weeks is being offered by non-alliance services. With container supply unable to match demand, and freight rates at the heights they’re currently at, there’s an obvious benefit to be had by the carriers.” (cd)
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