Alphaliner underlines shift to transpacific lanes
A shortage of tonnage, especially in the Far East–Middle East trade lane, has been identified by Alphaliner. Currently, none of the seven dedicated Central China–Middle East services operated by the big carriers offers the promised weekly sailings, due to a lack of capacities.
On 14 September Alphaliner counted just 29 ships deployed on these services, while 50 would actually be required, according to pro forma schedules. As a result, almost half of all sailings on this route have had to be blanked.
Besides general shortages, many ships have been redeployed to main east–west routes, where cargo demand is causing spot rates to rise to unprecedented highs. Alphaliner said that “this shift is set to continue,” as OOCL is redeploying its 13,208 teu ‘OOCL Egypt’ from the Ocean Alliance’s MEA3 service to a seasonal transpacific service operated jointly with its sister carrier Cosco Shipping Lines. (sh)