“Transatlantic demand continues to be hit by the pandemic, obliging carriers to extend voyage-blanking programmes and putting rates under pressure…”

“Copenhagen-based eeSea.com provides FreightWaves with data on carrier blank sailings based on U.S. arrival date. The latest data shows that sailing cancellations remain relatively high on the Europe-U.S. westbound route, averaging 7.3% in the third quarter versus 9.3% in the second quarter…”

“According to eeSea data, at the peak of the sailing cancellations in May, carriers removed over a quarter of the 130 scheduled sailings, but for August the void sailings now represent only 10% of the advertised 136 voyages…”

“More evidence has emerged on how differently the three main container shipping alliances on the Asia-North Europe trade are to manage capacity for the remainder of the year…”

“Ocean container rates remain exceptionally high but may have finally hit their ceiling. Spot rates have not only stopped rising, they’ve pulled back by single digits…”

“Asia-West Coast spot rates (SONAR: FBXD.CNAW) were $2,776 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) as of Monday, according to the Freightos Baltic Daily Index. That’s up around 70% versus the past two years and more than double late-February lows…”

“The battle for Asian containerized exports rages on between West and East Coast ports. The East had been steadily gaining ground, but COVID-19 is changing the balance in favor of the West, at least in the short term…”

“According to eeSea data, carriers blanked 25 (13%) of the scheduled 199 sailings on the transatlantic in May and have cancelled 17 (9%) of the advertised 187 sailings in June…”

“Data provided to FreightWaves by Copenhagen-based eeSea shows that only 3% of arrivals in the U.S. from China have been canceled so far for the third quarter, versus 14% for the second quarter…”

“Blank sailings have accounted for around 15% of active twenty foot equivalent unit, or TEU, capacity since the coronavirus hit at the start of this year but this is now easing, according to the latest research by eeSea, a platform that maps, measures and predicts container industry schedules…”

“Detailed trans-Pacific blank-sailing data is provided to FreightWaves by Copenhagen-based eeSea. The latest data, calculated based on the arrival date in the U.S., not the departure date from Asia, shows a stark difference in scheduling in the third quarter versus the second…”

“International ocean carriers entered 2020 with an expense problem and a profit problem…”

“Data provider eeSea said that operators had pulled 8 per cent of their sailings this year on key routes — between Asia and North America, Asia and Europe as well as those linking Europe and North America. That compared with 2 per cent for all of 2019…”

“Transatlantic shippers are set to be hit by another wave of blank sailings this month after 2M partners Maersk and MSC announced that the suspension of the TA4/NEUTAL4 would be extended…”

“THE Alliance and 2M have canceled 75 sailings scheduled for the third quarter…”

“Container spot rates from Asia to the US soared this week as the aggressive blank sailing programmes of transpacific carriers resulted in a capacity crunch and container rollovers…”

“According to data provided to FreightWaves by eeSea, updated as of May 22, 18% of Asia-U.S. container-ship sailings have been blanked in the week starting June 29, dropping to 15% the week starting July 6, 9% the week starting July 13 and just 2% for the week starting July 20…”

“After “blanking” (canceling) around 20% of Asia-to-U.S. capacity this month and next, it now appears almost certain that carriers will cut fewer sailings in July…”

“There has been a significant spike in carrier short-term container rate quotes from Asia to North Europe this week, as rollovers become the norm…”

“With make-or-break business decisions in the balance, the focus has predictably turned to data that signals future trends, such as container-shipping “blank sailing” information from companies such as eeSea and Sea-Intelligence, and real-time “nowcasting” data on ship movements from companies such as CargoMetrics…”