In its latest analysis, Sea-Intelligence highlights how carriers are gearing up for a bounce back in container traffic in the third quarter of the year. Liner services on the key east-west trades are returning to near-full quotas, with blank sailings limited to a minimum. As it stands, capacity in the third quarter of 2020 will far outweigh last year

Transpacific carriers are slated to take out 7% of slot space at the beginning of the third quarter, in addition to 15% of capacity on the Asia-Europe trade

This worst-case scenario would be devastating for the industry, as the combined operating profits of the top 12 carriers during the past eight years was $20.9bn

The coronavirus outbreak and continued closure of various manufacturing entities has taken a significant bite out of container shipping demand in Asia

Carriers’ point-to-point online tools still leave much to be desired

All but three of the major main lane service offerings have suffered from blank sailings since their inception