While unrelenting port congestion in Europe has made liner operators skip some calls, it has been insufficient to prop up the freefall in freight rates.
Alphaliner, in its latest report today, stated that Shanghai – North Europe spot freight rates have fallen by 48.5% in Q3. Its count of vessel arrivals for the 18 mega-alliance services between the Far East and North Europe (six for 2M, seven for OCEAN Alliance and five for THE Alliance) in Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Le Havre proves that 687 actual calls were made in the third quarter of 22.
The 18 loops would normally have made 827 port calls in the aforementioned ports, but
congestion has caused many ships to return to Asia late.
The 2M-partners MSC and Maersk made 15% fewer calls in North Europe during Q3 22 than planned, whereas this percentage was 12% for the OCEAN Alliance members.
The recent two-week strike at the UK port Felixstowe also saw carriers cut their calls there by 35% in Q3.
The volatility in Far East – North Europe schedules was felt very strongly in Belgium’s
Zeebrugge port, where the CSP Zeebrugge Terminal, which handles two OCEAN Alliance loops, was due to receive two 2M calls from mid-July. However, there was only one call so far.
Alphaliner said, “The fact that Zeebrugge scored 43 calls (out of 47) was due to the fact that Evergreen and CMA CGM have diverted ships to Zeebrugge on an ad-hoc basis.”
A container ship broker told Container News that while European ports are still congested,
cargo volumes have been falling.
“Volumes have become unstable now, so the liner operators are all dropping their rates to hold on to their market shares,” said the broker.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
