Carriers hold back vessel arrivals to Europe and the UK to improve port congestion and equipment shortages in China intensify. Blank Sailings continue to drive up market rates.
Market Overview: Carriers continue to delay vessel arrivals to alleviate the strain on congested European ports. The ongoing ETA changes are complicating schedules and disrupting the flow of equipment back to Asia, resulting in shortages at several major Chinese ports. These challenges are unfortunately extending transit times from Asia to the UK via the Cape of Good Hope.
Capacity reductions from blank sailings on routes from Asia to Europe and the UK are driving up market prices as supply constraints surpass typical seasonal demand.
ETA Changes: Persistent congestion at European ports is prompting carriers to postpone vessel arrivals by 10 to 25 days to help ease the bottlenecks. This approach is creating temporary instability and diminishing the reliability of ETAs. We remain hopeful that this is a short-term measure and that regular arrival schedules will be restored as congestion improves.
Congestion at the Port of Felixstowe remains challenging, resulting in carriers adjusting rotations to call at European ports before Felixstowe until congestion eases. We also anticipate numerous diversions in UK arrivals over the coming weeks, with vessels routing to London Gateway and Southampton instead of Felixstowe.
Equipment Shortages: Delayed vessel arrivals in Europe are causing late departures back to Asia, further impacting equipment availability across China. The initial shortages of 40-ft containers, which began in East China, have now spread to major ports, including Qingdao in the north and Yantian in the south, while Ningbo and Shanghai continue to be affected. Given the widespread nature of this issue, we expect these shortages to persist for the next four weeks until vessels return with empty containers. We are doing everything possible to mitigate the impact on our customers, including arranging pick-ups from alternative ports when feasible to keep cargo moving.
Blank Sailings: As previously communicated, carriers have scheduled blank sailings for the coming weeks to balance the gap between planned supply and demand on Asia-Europe routes. Additionally, delays in return voyages to Asia are tightening available capacity even further. With reduced capacity outweighing normal seasonal demand, we have seen freight rates rise again this week.
The ongoing global supply chain challenges, from extended transit times to port delays, continue to create uncertainty surrounding shipment arrival times on Asia-Europe routes. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide you with the latest and most reliable updates as soon as they become available.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your shipment, please don’t hesitate to contact our Customer Service Team at 01376 533039 or email [email protected].
