Figures from OOCL have offered a glimpse of how container lines are set to benefit from the surge in rates and volumes at the end of 2020.

In a fourth-quarter update, the Hong Kong company, which is owned by China Cosco Shipping, said its vessels carried 23.7% more boxes compared to the same period of last year.

Revenue soared 51% to $2.42bn in the three months ending 31 December, as freight rates hit record levels.

The loadable capacity of the fleet increased by 17.5%, with the overall load factor rising 4.6% compared to 2019.

The average revenue per teu was up 22.2% over the same period.

The biggest jump in the fourth quarter was on transpacific routes, which totalled 639,034 teu, up 28.9%.

Revenue on those routes jumped nearly 57% to $994m, while Asia-to-Europe revenue rose to $477m.

For the full year, box volumes were 7.3% up at 7.46m teu.

Revenue up for the year

Revenue showed growth of 18.9% at $7.5bn as the load factor grew 2.8%. Revenue per teu jumped 10.8% compared to 2019.

The box sector was hit by a Covid-19 demand shock in the spring of 2020, but has since rebounded as economies restocked.

Charter rates for container vessels ended 2020 at 12-year highs and have shown no signs of slowing up in the succeeding weeks.

Clarksons Research said its index of boxship charter earnings finished the year up 3% compared with 2019.

On the freight rate side, the Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) hit an all-time record level of 2,783 at the end of 2020, having averaged 56% more than the previous year across the 12 months, Clarksons said.