Ocean carriers have reduced scheduled capacity on Asia-North America West Coast (NAWC) by -18% to rebalance capacity to demand, returning it back in line with historical levels, Sea-Intelligence data shows (see Figure 1).
This was achieved by increasing blank sailings from 7.6% to 35.8%. This trend was also mirrored in the Asia-North America East Coast and Asia-North Europe trades, with the scheduled 4-week CNY capacity deployment decreasing by -11% and -6%, respectively.
Sea-Intelligence charted the progression in the percentage of weekly blanked capacity from week 50, 2022, to week 3, 2023, and noted the difference in how the increase in blank sailings was achieved (see Figure 2).
On both Asia-North America East Coast and Asia-North Europe, this new, higher level was nearly reached by Week 1. In comparison, the level of blank capacity on the Asia-North America West Coast was reached in increments. “This is an indication that perhaps the carriers are not as decisive on the Asia-North America trade lane than on the other two,” commented Alan Murphy, Sea-Intelligence’s CEO.
Source: Sea- Intelligence
