The amount of idle tonnage now laid up in ocean freight, due to low demand, has now exceeded 1 million TEU’s across 315 containerships.

According to a recent report in The Loadstar, approximately 1.18m teu of containership space is currently inactive, which represents around 4.3% of the global fleet and is a big jump from the 271 ships and 942,035 teu that was reported two weeks previously.

The increase follows a series of blanked sailing announcements on Asia origin routes during the past couple of weeks, and is partly attributed to ships being mothballed to make way for a high number of new build ships entering the market recently.

Overall capacity was boosted by 190,000 teu of new build ships in September, which followed 180,000 in August, 200,000 in July, and a record 300,000 teu that hit the water in June.

With demand for global shipping as low as it is right now, carriers have had little choice but to confirm a host of blanked sailings, especially from Asia, through to the end of November. The 2M Alliance has suspended a complete loop for seven weeks starting later this month, effectively creating a winter schedule.

It seems unlikely that there will be much change in the current market conditions until at least after Chinese New Year. Westbound continue to monitor developments and our team are always available to discuss any ocean freight enquiries you may have.

If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.