Carriers are busier than ever. Though we still have several options for Westbound sailings, Eastbound sailings are full to capacity for the coming weeks. This applies to practically all trade lanes, though the most affected areas are the Middle East and the Far East.
Carriers have cancelled several voyages, thus creating so called “blank sailings”. As a consequence containers have been left behind and this backlog is now causing space to be very restricted. The lack of space is also in part caused by the bankruptcy of carrier Hanjin.
The limited capacity is also putting pressure on the rates. The carriers increased their rates on March 1st and new rate increases have already been announced for April.
In April, several alliances between the carriers will come into effect, which will also affect the rates and vessel schedules. We therefor fear that the capacity problems will persist for the time being.
As a possible alternative, we can offer you rail links to China. This is a fast, but expensive option.
In addition, for the time being, there are no space issues for LCL shipments.
We would like to recommend you to place your bookings far ahead of time, or wherever possible, advise us of your schedule. We will always try to get you the earliest possible sailing, for the best rate.
