The idled containership fleet has shrunk to the lowest levels since February as the ships stranded inside the Strait of Hormuz dropped to 21 units with most of them already evacuated in the last 3 weeks. Containership availability remains very tight and this is reflected in the rising charter rates and resale prices as carriers scramble to secure any open tonnage to capitalize on the surging freight rates. The SCFI surged past 3,300 despite some of the 1 July rate hikes being rolled back, with the Transpacific rates in particular holding up very strongly even though EC freight futures suggest Asia-Europe rates may have already peaked.
As anticipated, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced the return of the Gemini partners’ AE15/SE3 service to the Suez route with immediate effect, with the first Suez transit scheduled later this week. The move could trigger further Gemini re-routings to the Suez as the 2 carriers are falling further behind their rivals in the capacity rankings, which will be further compounded as Hapag-Lloyd’s planned takeover of Zim is in jeopardy after Israeli government officials opposed the deal.
Johnson Leung
Gemini partners continue to lose ground to rivals
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will slip further down the carrier rankings over the next 18 months as their faster growing rivals are set to overtake the 2 Gemini partners, even as MSC continue to widen the lead over all of their challengers in the market as their operated fleet is set to breach 9m TEU by 2029. Hapag-Lloyd’s planned acquisition of Zim that would have allowed it to pull ahead of its closest rivals ONE and Evergreen is now under threat after the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister both voiced their opposition to the proposed sale over the weekend.
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