A huge boxship has left China nearly empty due to the impact of coronavirus Covid-19.
The unnamed 23,000-teu vessel departed Shanghai early this week carrying only 2,000 boxes, according to one shipping source.
Sector players told TradeWinds they were not surprised that this has happened, saying requirements for vessels have been cancelled.
“The outbreak of coronavirous coincided with the celebration of the Chinese New Year which saw the whole of China shut down,” said one source.
“There is simply no cargo to transport. Factories were closed before Chinese New Year and to contain the spread of the virus, cities were locked down and highways and roads were closed.
"The 23,000-teu ship has left Shanghai with very few containers but it will probably pick up some more cargoes along the way. The utilisation of the ship will probably be less than 50%.”
One boxship player described the market as “very negative” and said that the situation may continue until April.
“Large containerships may go off-hire for 40 to 60 days”, he estimated. “Chinese factories have resumed operations but are not in 100% production.”
The impact of coronavirus has also been felt on the feeder containership segment, with one broker saying around 50 vessels were available for spot fixtures last week, but this number has increased to over 70 this week.
“Owners are panicking now. They are trying to get whatever rates they can,” one broker said.
He added that "a lot of them are also hiding their vessels' status", meaning the number of ship available for employment may be more than stated.
"In general, the outlook is very grim,” he said.
“The feeder vessels in Europe will also be affected as they rely on big ships coming from China.”
Danish analyst Sea-Intelligence has claimed that the coronavirus outbreak is costing container lines $350m per week due to lost volumes. It said 350,000 teu has been cut from the export and import market every seven days since the disease broke out.
