The slump in global transport demand continues due to weak demand, forcing shipping companies including Maersk and MSC to continue cutting capacity. The spate of blanked sailings from Asia to northern Europe has led some shipping lines to operate “ghost ships” on trade routes.

Alphaliner, a shipping information and data provider, reported this week that only one container ship, MSC Alexandra, with a capacity of 14,036 TEU, is currently in operation on the 2M alliance’s AE1/Shogun route. The AE1/Shogun route, on the other hand, deployed 11 ships with an average capacity of 15,414 TeU during the 77-day round trip, according to shipping industry data analysis firm eeSea. (Typically, the route deployed 11 ships with capacities ranging from 13,000 to 20,00teU).

Alphaliner said the 2M alliance’s capacity management strategy in response to falling demand and an expected slow season after the Chinese New Year was to focus on two of the six Asia-Nordic routes, including cutting four AE55/Griffin flights and eliminating the AE1/Shogun route.

MSC Alexandra is scheduled to arrive at Felixstowe, Felixstowe, on 5 January this week at 10:00 hours, as the UK port is not part of the AE1/Shogun rotation.

Against the backdrop of extremely weak demand forecasts, shipping companies are preparing to cancel about half of their scheduled voyages from Asia to northern Europe and the US after the Chinese New Year on January 22.

In fact, ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon previously said during his monthly media briefing at the Port of Los Angeles that short-term rates are expected to remain flat until 2023, with spot market rates bottoming out. But he warned that Asian exports would fall sharply after the Lunar New Year holiday, with very weak exports in February and March. We can only see if demand starts to pick up around April or May. Overall, U.S. imports will be weak in the first half of next year, and may not gradually recover to normal conditions until the second half of 2023.

Maersk’s latest report on Asia Pacific markets, released in late December, was similarly downbeat on the outlook for Asian exports. “The outlook is more pessimistic than optimistic as the possibility of a global recession weighs on market sentiment,” Maersk said. Maersk added that demand for goods remained “weak” and was “expected to remain so until 2023 due to high inventory levels and the global economic recession that is likely to have occurred”.

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