Pre-Golden Week Blank Sailings Accelerate, Revealing Divergent Alliance Strategies

In issue 733 of the Sea-Intelligence Sunday Spotlight report, analysts have pointed to an acceleration in the rate of blank sailings for the upcoming Golden Week holiday. The wave of last-minute capacity cuts that the market had previously anticipated has now clearly materialized, with carriers withdrawing an additional 544,000 TEU from the Transpacific and Asia-Europe routes over the past four weeks.

A deeper analysis of this surge has revealed distinctly different capacity management strategies among the major carrier alliances. Sea-Intelligence tracked the weekly progression of blank sailing announcements for the four-week Golden Week period (weeks 40-43), collecting data from week 32 through week 38. This allows not only for a view of the total capacity withdrawn but also the timing of each alliance's announcements, thereby clearly identifying the "first-movers" and the "latecomers."

Contrasting Alliance Strategies on the Asia-Europe Trade

The alliance-level strategies on the Asia-North Europe trade lane are a prime example of these different approaches.

The Premier Alliance was the most decisive early mover, announcing significant blank sailings right from the start of the analysis period in week 32.

The Ocean Alliance also started early, but with a more cautious approach before accelerating sharply in week 37.

In contrast, MSC and Gemini were the late-movers, waiting until week 36 to implement any significant capacity cuts. While Gemini adopted a "one-and-done" approach, reaching its current level of capacity reduction in its first wave of cancellations, MSC's subsequent acceleration in week 36 was the most aggressive action of any alliance in the final weeks.

Although the strategies differed, the end result is that the recent wave of blank sailings has brought the total level of capacity reduction on these trades in line with historical levels.

Nguồn: Sea-Intelligence
 

See more:

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• CMA CGM Boosts UK Intermodal Network with Acquisition of Rail Freight Leader Freightliner
• Ahead of New USTR Port Fees, COSCO Pledges to Maintain Stable Service in U.S. Market
• International Shipping and Logistics Market Update - Week 38/2025 | Phaata
• COSCO schedules: Vietnam - North America in Sep 2025
• COSCO updates Vietnam-North Europe sailing schedules in Sep 2025
• SITC updates Vietnam-Intra Asia sailing schedules in Sep 2025

Source: Phaata.com (According to Sea-Intelligence)

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