COVID-19 pandemic prompts carriers to make additional ad hoc capacity cuts
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
04/05/2020
These will be implemented with almost immediate effect, as carriers are confronted with a sharp decline in westbound volumes. Compared to earlier this year, when the COVID-19 outbreak only affected manufacturing in China and thus exports from Asia, the disease has since spread to Europe and to other parts of the world, where nation-wide lockdown orders and production line closures are now putting a lid on demand.
Further to the Asia - Europe corridor, the main ocean carriers are also blanking additional sailings on the Transpacific, but to a lesser extent. Hence, even further cuts might be on the for this trade in the not-too distant future.
Besides, India has recently entered a three-week lockdown period which has prompted several shipping lines to announce voyage cancellations in this trade too.
Carriers have not yet announced far-reaching blanking schemes on the Transpacific, but they cancelled some Asia - US round trips at relatively short notice.
The 2M partners are to blank a sailing of the Asia - USWC ¡®TP-2/ Jaguar¡¯ service in week 15 (planned with a 6 April sailing of the 13,000 teu MSC KATIE) and a sailing of the Asia - Canada West Coast ¡®Maple¡¯ service in week 16.
The OCEAN Alliance has decided to withdraw four Transpacific sailings in April.
Departures of the Far East-USWC ¡®PSW1¡¯ service from Fuzhou on 5, 12 and 26 April have been cancelled. The same goes for the 14 April sailing of the Far East - WCNA ¡®PNW1¡¯ se
