According to a report from Danish liner consultancy Sea-Intelligence, the percentage of empty container being transported around the world has increased significantly in the past few years.
Analysts at Sea-Intelligence have estimated the share of empties relative to full containers, based on teu-miles. Their conclusion: currently 41% of container transport is empty.
“The present situation is that for every 10 miles a full container is shipped, there is now a need to ship an empty container 4.1 miles – sharply up from ‘just’ 3.1 miles in 2019, before the pandemic market disruptions,” Sea-Intelligence noted.
(Dreamstime photo of containership)