The Ocean Alliance is cancelling several Asia–North Europe sailings in April and May to help recover schedules affected by congestion and delays at European ports. In contrast, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, as part of the Gemini Cooperation, are taking a different approach by adding more vessels on the same trade route to help alleviate port delays in Europe and to support their new network coverage.

The Gemini Cooperation has set the target of aiming to deliver 90% schedule reliability with their fully phased-in network. The latest global schedule reliability report from Sea-Intelligence indicates on-time performance at 54.9% in February 2025. In 2024, global schedule reliability remained relatively stable and stayed within the 50-55% range.

Ocean carriers use blank sailings as a method to balance supply and demand. The reduction in capacity suggests that the recent surge in cargo, which was fuelled by strong demand, port congestion, and longer routes around Africa, is starting to ease.

Data from visibility provider eeSea shows carriers are still adding capacity overall while reducing the number of cancelled sailings on the Asia-North Europe route. However, Xeneta’s chief analyst, Peter Sand, warned that more blank sailings may be announced soon. He expects nearly double the number of cancelled sailings this month.

Source: Journal of Commerce