In its final report on the container shipping trades of 2024 consultancy Alphaliner has forecast that there will be no overcapacity challenges in the near-term as carriers seek to plug gaps in their services.
According to Alphaliner’s analysis the container fleet increased by nearly 3 million teu last year, or by 10.6%, with some 59% of this new capacity deployed on the Asia to Europe trade which had diverted around the Cape of Good Hope.
Capacity on the European trades increased by 31% overall by the end of the year, but according to Alphaliner more tonnage is needed to plug the remaining gaps in the Asia to Europe trades.
“Weekly capacity offered on the route has risen by a much smaller percentage. On 1 December 2023, a weekly average of 434,940 slots was offered on the Asia - Europe trade. A year later, on 1 December 2024, this had risen by only 38,360 teu, or 8.8%, as re-routing gobbled up capacity,” said the report.
Last year ended with almost no idle tonnage, and just 0.6% of the active fleet was considered inactive.
