The brief launch and suspension of the “Freedom Plan” advocated by the U.S. government has added new uncertainties to the Middle East shipping environment, but its impact on the container shipping market remains limited to specific areas. Currently, shipping companies continue to transship cargo via India, Colombo, and Red Sea hub ports, while multimodal transport alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Freight rates rose again last week. As of May 7, the Drewry World Container Index (WCI) increased by 3% week-on-week to $2,/FEU. Transpacific rates rose by 6%, while Asia–North /Mediterranean rates increased by 2%. Transatlantic rates edged down by 1%.
On the major east-west主干航线上, a total of 702 sailings are scheduled over the next five weeks (May 11 to June 14), with 34 sailings expected to be blanked, resulting in a blank sailing rate of 5%. 95% of sailings will proceed as planned. Blank sailings are concentrated on the transpacific eastbound route (47%), followed by the Asia–/Mediterranean route (32%), while the transatlantic route (21%) is relatively less affected. The Gemini Cooperation still reports no blank sailings.
Capacity conditions are gradually improving, with blank sailings expected to decrease from 59 in April to 49 in May, and further to 30 in June. Meanwhile, east-west route capacity has increased by 4% month-on-month.
For shippers, this means the stability of the liner network is improving, but alternative routes, rising costs, and the risk of periodic disruptions will persist in the short term.
