If during the Covid-19 pandemic container shipping companies had increased their boxship sailing speed by 4% to cope with the high transport demand, in the last three months the average speed has decreased by 4% to 13.8 knots and could be reduced by 10% by 2025.
BIMCO explained this in a note, pointing out that in 2019, the largest containerships had, on average, sailed 2.6 knots faster than the smallest ships. In Q1 2022 this speed difference narrowed to 1.8 knots, dropping to 1.6 knots in the first quarter of this year.
This shows that the average sailing speed related to vessel TEU capacity has been reduced by 6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, while the average sailing speed per se decreased by only 4% per year. Supply has therefore decreased more rapidly than shipping speed.
Translation by Giles Foster
