Carriers hope that the tight space situation over the next few months will help persuade shippers to agree to pay a peak season surcharge on the Far East-Europe trades.
This optimism comes on the back of significant capacity reductions on the Far East to Europe route over the past 12 months, with Alphaliner's projections for August at 322,000 TEU per week.
As a result, the number of carriers to so far announce implementation of peak season surcharges has risen to 18 on the Far East-Europe trades, according to the Shipping Gazette.
The peak season surcharges are said to range from US$100 to $200 per TEU for the Far East-Europe trade, with the surcharge coming into effect August 1 in most cases until the end of October.
But a number of carriers have said the surcharges will apply until further notice, without providing an exact period. Furthermore, some carriers, which had announced earlier surcharge dates for the Mediterranean trade, are now delaying introduction of peak season surcharges until August.
Average supply is reported to be down 23 per cent compared to August 2008, when it stood at 418,000 TEU per week. The number of services is also said to have been reduced from 64 to 44 during the same period (excluding the two ANZ-Far East-Europe pendulums).
The Far East-Mediterranean route saw the largest percentage declines, with 12 major services removed or merged as cargo volumes declined both in the west Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions.
The service cuts came as total westbound volumes declined by 22 per cent in the January-April period to 4,387 million TEU, down from 5,633 million TEU last year, according to the ELAA.
Alphaliner added that the average duration of Far East-Mediterranean strings now stand at 8.6 weeks compared to 7.5 weeks until two years ago. Meanwhile, Far East-North Europe strings currently turn around in an average 9.2 weeks, compared to 8.1 weeks in the past.
The lengthened port rotations are mainly due to additional port calls and slower vessel speeds to offset bunker price hikes. However, the recent practice of routing some services around the Cape of Good Hope on the eastbound leg of Europe-Far East services is believed to have ceased.
This optimism comes on the back of significant capacity reductions on the Far East to Europe route over the past 12 months, with Alphaliner's projections for August at 322,000 TEU per week.
As a result, the number of carriers to so far announce implementation of peak season surcharges has risen to 18 on the Far East-Europe trades, according to the Shipping Gazette.
The peak season surcharges are said to range from US$100 to $200 per TEU for the Far East-Europe trade, with the surcharge coming into effect August 1 in most cases until the end of October.
But a number of carriers have said the surcharges will apply until further notice, without providing an exact period. Furthermore, some carriers, which had announced earlier surcharge dates for the Mediterranean trade, are now delaying introduction of peak season surcharges until August.
Average supply is reported to be down 23 per cent compared to August 2008, when it stood at 418,000 TEU per week. The number of services is also said to have been reduced from 64 to 44 during the same period (excluding the two ANZ-Far East-Europe pendulums).
The Far East-Mediterranean route saw the largest percentage declines, with 12 major services removed or merged as cargo volumes declined both in the west Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions.
The service cuts came as total westbound volumes declined by 22 per cent in the January-April period to 4,387 million TEU, down from 5,633 million TEU last year, according to the ELAA.
Alphaliner added that the average duration of Far East-Mediterranean strings now stand at 8.6 weeks compared to 7.5 weeks until two years ago. Meanwhile, Far East-North Europe strings currently turn around in an average 9.2 weeks, compared to 8.1 weeks in the past.
The lengthened port rotations are mainly due to additional port calls and slower vessel speeds to offset bunker price hikes. However, the recent practice of routing some services around the Cape of Good Hope on the eastbound leg of Europe-Far East services is believed to have ceased.
