Drewry reports blank sailings jump 122 percent in February

The Drewry Container Capacity Insight reports a doubling of blank sailings by container shipping lines so far this month.

With our strong presence in the global container shipping arena, this has raised questions for the U-Freight Group’s ocean freight teams about whether there will there be enough capacity for shippers.

In its latest Logistics Executive Briefing, Drewry experts provide our independent, data-backed assessment of what this wave of sailing cancellations means and what to expect.

Drewry reports that so far this month, a total of 136 Transpacific, Asia-Europe/Mediterranean and Transatlantic sailings have been cancelled, up 122% month-on-month.

Carriers are clearly leaning heavily on the blank sailings, at least partly to adjust to the seasonal drop in cargo during the Lunar New Year holidays, starting from 17 February. Most of the blank sailings are on the Transpacific route.

Drewry’s view that the ramp-up in blank sailings is at least partly caused by Chinese New Year is reinforced by the fact that blank sailings will fall back in March.

Drewry says that despite the blank sailings, effective ship capacity offered to the market will not be cut between the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 and the end of the first quarter of 2026 overall. It adds that the number of blank sailings will fall back to about 53 in March on the major East-West routes and effective capacity is forecast to expand by 20% or more month-on-month in March. 

The consultancy concludes that the measures taken by many ocean carriers to blank sailings – even if disruptive – are not disproportionate and will not cause a shortage of capacity overall.

However, Drewry says that there will be less frequent sailings from many ports and volatility/variability of transit times remain high, but its deep analysis should allay concerns among shippers for now.

U-Freight continues to monitor developments in global container shipping lanes closely. We remain committed to supporting customers with reliable, flexible transport solutions across air, sea and multimodal services, helping navigate route changes and maintain resilience in international supply chains.

For expert advice or further information on our ocean freight services, please contact your local U-Freight office or visit the ocean freight section of this website.