The number of idled container vessels over 500 twenty-foot equivalent units edged slightly higher in the first two weeks of the year and is set to increase as carriers axe sailings in the run-up to the Chinese New Year holiday, according to Alphaliner.
There were 337 unemployed ships as of Jan. 11, up from 331 two weeks earlier, the industry analyst said.
But unemployment, measured by capacity, shrank slightly to 1.35 million TEUs, or 6.8 percent of the global total, from 1.36 million TEUs, as the return of several 7,500 TEUs-plus ships to service offset the increase in the idled 500-2,000 TEU fleet to 107 vessels from 99 at the previous count.