According to Alphaliner’s latest report, despite the fact that 1.14 million TEUs of new capacity has already been delivered this year, the members of the three mega-alliances (Ocean Alliance, 2M and The Alliance) are currently 36 ships short of efficiently operating all 25 link services along the routes between Asia and Europe.
Moreover, diverting traffic from Suez and rerouting it to the Cape of Good Hope has resulted in longer voyages, requiring additional ships to meet sailing schedules.
If we bear in mind that the average vessel size on this trade route is currently 14,150 TEUs, some 509,400 additional slots are still required. This is 9.6% of the total capacity needed to guarantee weekly departures for all alliance sailings .
Alphaliner calculates that 376 ships are currently necessary for all 25 loops, compared to 321 for the 27 loops one year ago.
CMA CGM’s Asia-East Med-Adriatic ‘BEX2’service is one of the four loops operated by the Ocean Alliance along the Far East – Med trade route. It is currently the only one transiting through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal after it was reinstated in early May.
Translation by Giles Foster
