Container capacity falls, layups rise
Capacity on the major east-west container routes has dropped 11.5 percent in five months, from 916,000 TEUs on Aug. 1 to 812,000 TEUs on Jan. 1, information service AXS-Alphaliner said.
Capacity on the routes between Far East and European/Mediterranean has fallen 16 percent to 351,00 TEUs per week, with 30,000 TEUs in weekly capacity removed in December alone.
Capacity between the Far East and North America is down 9 percent to 342,500 TEUs per week, while North America/North Europe and Med are down 2.5 percent to 118,000 TEUs per week.
AXS Alphaliner said layups by carriers continue to mount. Some 210 cellular ships are idle with about 550,000 TEUs of capacity, up from about 420,000 TEUs two weeks ago. They represent 4.5 percent of the existing cellular fleet in TEUs. Around 125 of the 210 ships are charter market vessels without charter, awaiting an employment. They include big ships on major east-west routes, and smaller ships used as feeders or on regional routes, it said.
