Market demand forces CMA CGM to inject additional container capacity on Asia-Europe sailings
“Unprecedented demand” for container freight now has France’s CMA CGM deploying additional vessels on the important tradelane between Asia and Europe.
French container shipping line CMA CGM plans to dial up its capacity on the tradelane between Asia and Europe, which is currently seeing sky-high rates and “unprecedented demand.”
The container line does so after announcing last week that it had to shut down bookings from Asia to Europe for the remainder of December due to the extreme situation currently playing out in the container market. Similarly,
Maersk and ONE have also announced that they currently have to decline some bookings out of Asia due to the market situation.
CMA CGM increasing capacity with 6% to meet market requirements
According to the latest announcement, CMA CGM has increased its capacity by 6 percent on its routes between Asia and Europe in the fourth quarter this year compared to the same quarter last year.
The shipping company will furthermore add more capacity early next year, which will add another 10 percent on top of the current capacity.
The added capacity comes in the form of nine LNG-powered mega vessels of 23,000 teu each, which will be deployed on the routes. Three of these are already in service, writes CMA CGM. Two extra loaders will add an additional 9,000 teu in capacity with special departures from China to France and the Netherlands in late December.
According to CMA CGM, the company is also working to speed up the return of empty containers to Asia in order to reduce delays in ports in both Asia and Europe.
©ShippingWatch_SorenPico_IdaJacobsen
