Container ship availability remains ultra-tight towards mid-year and the global box ship fleet is more or less fully employed. In many vessel size classes, the number of charter ships available spot or prompt is 0.
Subsequently, daily rates for the few ships that have come open for charter have reached astronomical heights and a major carrier earlier this month paid more than $100,000 for a short fixture of a modern 7,000 teu vessel.
Some major cargo owners have once again resorted to front-loading – consumer goods moved to Europe and the Americas earlier than originally planned to build up a warehouse buffer. Demand is thus unusually strong for the time of year and the prevailing economic climate.
Supply-wise, threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the diversions via COGH still require the global fleet to perform millions of extra teu-miles. This “artificial” demand alone soaked up an estimated 5-6% of the global fleet in terms of slot capacity.
Source: Alphaliner
