Container shipping lines are responding to rising bunker prices with a clear \u201ctwo-speed\u201d dynamic across global container shipping, according to Alphaliner.
Between Q4 2025 and 14 April 2026, the average speed of the global container fleet declined by 2.3%, from 15.58 to 15.22 knots. The slowdown was concentrated entirely after 28 February.
On 14 April, Alphaliner recorded an average speed of 15.18 knots, the lowest level since March 2023.
With our portfolio of international container shipping services for LCL and FCL cargoes, this is of significant interest to the U-Freight Group.
The deceleration coincides with a sharp rise in bunker fuel costs, which moved in the opposite direction during the same period. Prices reached record highs of USD 1,201 per tonne for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) on 13 March and USD 2,018 per tonne for marine gas oil (LSMGO) on 3 April, both in Singapore.
However, the impact of higher fuel costs has not been uniform across trade routes. North\u2013South services experienced the steepest slowdown, with Far East\u2013South America and Far East\u2013Australia\/New Zealand both declining by 3.6%.
Long-haul routes, where schedule buffers allow for greater flexibility, also adjusted speeds to manage fuel costs. Far East\u2013East Coast North America reduced speeds by 2.2%, Far East\u2013West Coast North America by 1.8%, and the North Atlantic by 1.5%.
While less pronounced, these reductions reflect a broader industry-wide response to sustained bunker price pressure.
For more information about U-Freight’s ocean freight forwarding and logistics services, please contact your local U-Freight office or visit the ocean freight section of this website.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Container shipping lines are responding to rising bunker prices with a clear \u201ctwo-speed\u201d dynamic across global container shipping, according to Alphaliner. Between Q4 2025 and 14 April 2026, the average speed of the global container fleet declined by 2.3%, from 15.58 to 15.22 knots. The slowdown was concentrated entirely after 28 February. On 14 April,…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n