Carriers continue to push for an early return to the Red Sea with MSC the latest to join the fray as 7 of it ships crossed the Bab el Mandeb in the last 2 weeks. Maersk has confirmed that it has already returned over 30% of its Cape volumes back to the trans-Suez route and it views the conditions for a full return to the Red Sea have already been met even as it eyes further fleet expansion to combat persistent port and landside bottlenecks. Congestion remains elevated over the past week particularly in China where waiting times at key ports in Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen are as high as 12 days as they continue to work through the vessel backlog from last week’s typhoon.
Freight rates continue to benefit from firm peak season cargo demand and tight vessel space especially on the transpacific and Latin America routes, with Asia-Europe currently the only weak link with rates still falling on both the Med and North Europe route while the new Arctic services via the Northern Sea Route are being launched. Charter rates remain very firm, with more forward fixtures for 2027 deliveries being concluded while the newbuilding orderbook continues to climb as the market share race continues.
Johnson Leung
Maersk set to remove self-imposed capacity cap
Maersk is set to embark on a new vessel ordering spree after being weighed down in the past 8 years by a self-imposed capacity cap that has seen its annualized fleet growth since 2018 limited to just 2.0% compared to 11.7% by its key rivals. During its 2nd quarter earnings call, Maersk indicated that they will “ensure that we have the capacity to grow” as it has reached the limit of what its current fleet can do and will invest in new ships to ensure future fleet growth. The containership orderbook has already surged to a fresh high of 41.7% and is expected to rise further in the next 6 months as carriers continue ramp up their chase for market share.
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