According to a new report from Sea-Intelligence, container shipping lines have dramatically increased blank sailings on Transpacific routes as a result of the escalating trade conflict between the U.S. and China.
Under the latest developments, the U.S. boosted tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, while China retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. imports and restrictions on critical mineral exports.
Sea-Intelligence indicated that the total blanked capacity for weeks 16-19 has spiked to 367,800 TEUs, versus just 60,000 TEU three weeks prior. The Asia-North America West Coast trade lane has seen scheduled capacity decline by 12% compared to six weeks ago, while the Asia-North America East Coast route experienced an even steeper decline of 14%.
“The current political climate is extremely volatile and given that tariffs are being imposed and suspended on an almost daily basis, we assume that both the shipping lines and cargo owners are only adjusting their short-term supply chains for now and waiting for things to settle down before making longer-term network adjustments,” said Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence.
Shipping analysts at Drewry reported that blank sailings are expected to continue mounting in the coming weeks, especially in the Transpacific eastbound trade. Some vessels may depart China with substantial empty space through May as cargo owners cancel shipments or halt cargo at origin to offset rising cost.
“Frequency of sailings is expected to improve over the next five weeks, with our forecast indicating approximatively 90% of weekly departures will happen as scheduled,” Drewry comments. “Among the major payers, Gemini is expected to reach a perfect sailing schedule adherence. However, this is likely to change if carriers introduce more blank sailings to reduce overcapacity in an attempt to boost rates and adapt to lowering demand, particularly from China to USA.”
Meanwhile, on the Transatlantic trade, capacity has been largely holding steady, thanks in part to the 90-day suspension of tariffs announced by both the Trump administration and the EU Commission.
(Photo of Port of Long Beach)