Blank Sailings Yet Extra Capacity Due

According to the loadstar, a number of blank sailings are being introduced by carriers over the next few weeks, as early indications suggest that post Chinese New Year volumes will be lower than originally expected.

The 2M Alliance have announced that the Feb/Mar loops of the MSC Eloane and Estelle Maersk will be withdrawn, while other carriers are expected to follow suit.

Blank sailings are scheduled journeys that are cancelled for one loop, or that skip one or more ports, due to low volume or to enable a vessel that is running late to catch up. Blank sailings are not uncommon around Chinese New Year as export production comes to a standstill during the period.

While volumes are expected to be slow in the next couple of weeks, there is more capacity being introduced between Asia and Europe shortly.  The Ocean Alliance, The Alliance and HMM are collectively adding around 28,000 TEU through upsizing to new vessels during April.