Ports

Carriers announce limited blanks post-Golden Week as Asia capacity concerns mount

Ocean carriers have announced 39 blanked sailings between October 5 and November 8 across major east-west trade lanes, representing just 5% of 710 scheduled voyages. Half of the blanks will affect the transpacific route, a third will impact Asia-Europe services, and the remainder will hit transatlantic lanes. The cancellations emerge as Chinese factories prepare to restart following the Golden Week holiday, prompting shippers to reassess available capacity for the coming surge in container flows. Despite carrier capacity management tactics contributing to elevated transpacific spot rates in recent weeks, current blank sailing levels remain historically restrained. Industry analysts note the proportion of capacity being withdrawn falls well below post-pandemic averages, with transpacific and Asia-Europe routes historically seeing around 10% blanks during comparable periods. Shipping reliability metrics remain relatively stable despite operational challenges.