Is peak season really coming?Maersk rents over 125,000 emergency containers
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The Houthi armed forces recently announced that they would expand the scope of their attacks on Israeli-related ships from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. This also means that tensions in the Red Sea have further escalated and the impact on the shipping industry has also further expanded.
In response, Maersk issued an announcement on May 6, analyzing the prospects of the Red Sea crisis and introducing its response measures.
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Maersk stated that the complexity of the situation in the Red Sea region has increased in the past few months. In order to ensure the safety of crews, ships and cargo, Maersk will continue to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope in the foreseeable future.
At the same time, due to the further expansion of the risk area, ships are forced to further extend their voyages, resulting in extended shipping schedules and additional costs, and may cause port congestion and shortages of shipping capacity and containers. Maersk expects a 15% to 20% capacity loss in the second quarter from the Far East to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Maersk stated that in order to ensure the supply chain, it has leased more than 125,000 additional containers. At the same time, since the extended voyage has increased fuel usage by 40%, Maersk will charge relevant surcharges to customers to offset the additional costs.
Previously, regarding the prospect of container demand, CIMC Group mentioned in its first quarter results of 2024 that liner companies have a high willingness to prepare containers.
In the first quarter of 2024, CIMC Group’s cumulative sales volume of standard dry cargo containers was 494,400 TEU, a year-on-year increase of 499.27%. CIMC analysis said: "In order to cope with the impact of increased uncertainty and risks in global container transportation caused by the prolongation of the Red Sea crisis, customers' current willingness to prepare containers has increased significantly."