The Transpacific trade lanes are experiencing substantial blank sailings during the four-week period from weeks 16-19, primarily attributed to the volatile political climate and ongoing tariff adjustments, according to Sea-Intelligence.
Analysis of scheduled capacity over a six-week period leading up to week 15 reveals significant reductions. On the Asia-North America West Coast route, the capacity scheduled for weeks 16-19 decreased from 1.43 million TEU in week 10 to 1.37 million TEU by week 15, representing a -12% decline.
The Asia-North America East Coast route saw a greater percentage reduction, with scheduled capacity for weeks 16-19 falling from 1.01 million TEU in week 10 to 867,000 TEU by week 15, a -14% decrease over the same six weeks.
The impact on combined Transpacific blank sailings for weeks 16-19 has been marked. Three weeks ago, 60,000 TEU was scheduled to be blanked.
This figure rose sharply to 250,000 TEU within a week as carriers announced more blank sailings.
By week 15, the total blanked capacity for the period reached 367,800 TEU. This trend of significant blank sailings is not observed on the Transatlantic trade route.
Capacity on the Transatlantic is reported as largely holding steady, especially following a 90-day suspension of tariffs announced by both the Trump administration and the EU.
Given the situation, it is assumed that "both the shipping lines and cargo owners are only adjusting their short-term supply chains for now and waiting for things to settle down (one way or another), before making longer-term network adjustments."