While tensions in the Persian Gulf continues to ratchet upwards, container traffic is adjusting to the extended shutdown in Hormuz traffic with carriers re-establishing intra-Gulf feeders and India-Northern UAE/Oman services to maintain cargo flow to the Gulf region. These come on top of ad hoc Red Sea sailings from China and India that are capitalizing on the demand for alternative gateways to bring cargo into the Middle East Gulf states. Despite the ongoing turbulence, freight rates have started to ease across the board as the initial impact on ships delayed by the Middle East disruptions are offset by the redeployment of surplus ships displaced from their regular Persian Gulf deployment into new routes to fill in for the delayed ships.
Capacity utilization across all key tradelanes remain well below the level needed to support the carriers’ announced rate hikes, forcing the mid-March rate hikes to be rolled back. Initial feedback on the new Transpacific contracts that have been concluded suggest that rates have mostly been maintained at last year’s levels but will be subject to higher bunker surcharges.
Johnson Leung
Maersk earnings margin continue to lag behind rivals
Maersk continues to underperform the rest of its peers in the 4th quarter of 2025, coming at the bottom of the EBIT margin performance of 11 of the largest publicly listed liner shipping operators. Maersk was 1 of just 3 carriers that recorded negative EBIT in the quarter, with the other carriers maintaining positive operating profits from their container shipping operations although average margins dropped to 5.7% in the 4th quarter compared to 14.3% in the 3rd quarter.
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