Container shipping capacity has reached unprecedented levels across major East-West trade lanes, with deployed supply rising sharply in October and November 2026 instead of following the usual late-year seasonal decline.
According to the latest Sea-Intelligence commentary, average weekly capacity on Asia-Europe has moved well above historical patterns. Normally, deployed supply contracts after Golden Week as carriers adjust to softer fourth-quarter demand. In 2026, however, capacity accelerated during October and November, diverging significantly from trends seen between 2012 and 2025.
Capacity on both Asia-Europe trades had already remained elevated throughout the year, partly because of the Red Sea crisis and the additional tonnage required to maintain weekly departure frequencies. The October and November increase, however, has moved substantially beyond even the elevated levels recorded in 2025.
Average weekly deployed capacity exceeded 350,000 TEU on Asia-North Europe and rose above 260,000 TEU on Asia-Mediterranean.
Similar conditions have emerged on the Transpacific. Asia-North America West Coast capacity climbed to almost 393,000 TEU per week in October and is expected to reach an unprecedented average of approximately 400,000 TEU per week in November. Asia-North America East Coast capacity was broadly aligned with historical levels until August, but October and November are also showing record highs.
Sea-Intelligence attributes these unusual capacity levels primarily to severe vessel bunching caused by ongoing port congestion and schedule unreliability in Asia.
Vessels originally scheduled to depart during the third quarter experienced substantial delays, pushing their departures into October and November. This concentration of delayed sailings has consequently inflated the amount of deployed capacity visible during the two months.
Source: Sea-Intelligence, “Unprecedented Capacity Levels in Oct/Nov,” 29 October 2026.
