Almost half of all containership sailings are being blanked by the large carriers between the Middle East and Asia.
None of the seven dedicated services from the region to central China are now operating on weekly schedules after vessels were redeployed elsewhere, figures from consultancy Alphaliner show.
Just 29 ships are being used from the Middle East, but 50 are needed according to declared schedules.
Additional vessels are also required, because containerships can no longer complete a round trip in the usual seven weeks due to port congestion and increased waiting times at anchorages.
Many units have been sent to work on the main East-West trade routes, where demand is very strong and spot freight rates are at historical highs, Alphaliner said.
The share of the global cellular boxship fleet deployed in the Asia-to-Europe and Asia-to-North America trades increased from 34.6% on 1 July 2020 to 41.4% on 1 July this year.
Pacific capacity jumps
Transpacific capacity has risen 30.6% year-on-year and Middle East-to-Asia runs have been among the worst affected by this shift.
Cosco Shipping Line-owned Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) will this week redeploy the 13,208-teu OOCL Egypt (built 2013) from the Ocean Alliance's MEA3 service to a seasonal transpacific service operated jointly with Cosco.
This redeployment leaves the MEA3 loop with the 15,536-teu CMA CGM Zephyr (built 2021) as the only ship in its fleet. The service needs seven vessels to operate at full capacity.
15 of 28 ships running
The Ocean Alliance group operates four loops from the region. Only 15 ships currently ply these services, whereas 28 should be running.
The lack of ships is also affecting Red Sea services to Asia.
The Ocean Alliance runs three loops with Pacific International Lines requiring 17 ships, but only eight of between 4,800 teu and 14,500 teu are now operating.
But regional operators such as Emirates Shipping and Sea-Lead Shipping have complete fleets in place, and have not been tempted to move tonnage elsewhere, Alphaliner added.
Ocean Alliance members are Cosco Shipping Lines, CMA CGM, Evergreen and OOCL.
