AP Moller-Maersk has idled more container ships than any other carrier due to the slump in demand on leading east-west trades.
The Danish carrier accounts for nearly one-quarter of the 122 commercially idled container ships, according to Alphaliner.
The tally includes 29 vessels that are owned or chartered by Maersk with a combined total of 281,400 teu.
The carrier is followed by its 2M partner MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, with 13 commercially idled vessels amounting to 119,000 teu.
But other major carriers have not followed suit and typically have only a few ships idled.
Some of those vessels are simply undergoing extended waiting times for their next assignment, Alphaliner added.
The decision of the 2M partners to lay up ships is related to low cargo demand on the trades from Asia to Europe and North America.
That recent suspension by the 2M partners of their AE1/Shogun service between Asia and Europe has forced Maersk to idle tonnage, including some of the recently delivered 15,400-teu newbuildings.
The result is that Maersk accounts for 17 of 35 vessels over 7,500 teu that have been commercially idled, Alphaliner said.
The commercially idle container fleet comprises 122 ships of 721,300 teu, it added.
The total rises to 300 container ships including vessels in yards undergoing general repairs or class renewal.
The combined total represents nearly 1.57m teu or 6% of the total cellular fleet.
In recent weeks, the inactive boxship fleet dipped due to a decrease in commercially idle and vessel capacity in dry dock.
