Through all of it, Britton emphasizes that Maersk\u2019s top priority has been safety\u2014of its crews, customer cargos, and vessels. \u201cWe have very much erred on the side of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the 2026 first quarter, Maersk deployed 735 container vessels, representing approximately 4.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of capacity. Six dual-fuel vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2026.<\/p>\n
SHIFTED ROUTINGS, RISING COSTS, MORE DELAYS<\/p>\n
![\"Maersk\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784322011_256_maersk.jpg\")
With this major transitway essentially closed, shippers are seeing their global over-water transit times extended\u2014adding more complexity to supply chains. Container line operators have shifted to using various other, longer routings and port locations outside of the Strait.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The closure] has added from one week to a month for shipments moving between Europe, Asia, and the U.S. [which now have to go around Africa],\u201d says Philip Damas, founder and head of Drewry Supply Chain Advisors<\/a>. \u201cShippers are using UAE ports outside the Strait. They\u2019re then trucking containers overland to Dubai and the upper Gulf,\u201d he explains. The other route, he notes, is through the Red Sea and then trucking containers eastbound to the upper Gulf countries, at great expense.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been very disrupting and very difficult logistically, also involving much longer transit times and increased costs, in some cases more than double,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one wants to send ships into the Gulf,\u201d adds Lars Jensen, chief executive officer at ocean shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t see a normalization of the container services until there is a more permanent [peace] agreement. We need more stability.\u201d<\/p>\n He cites two additional factors impacting the industry as well. One is the price of \u201cbunker\u201d fuel and how increases are applied in carrier surcharge programs. Yet the most significant issue, Jensen believes, is when and if vessels will see safe passage through the Red Sea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the prolonged Red Sea crisis is resolved, liners will go back to routing ships through the Suez Canal,\u201d he says. Currently, the Hormuz Strait crisis has pushed ship lines to route through the Red Sea, \u201cwhere they risk attack by the Houthis. Nobody wants to see ships shot at and put at risk,\u201d he emphasizes. Once this trade lane can again be safely used, \u201cthat shortens the supply chain by two weeks as they no longer have to go around Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n CAPACITY OVERLOAD ON THE HORIZON?<\/p>\n Overall, the ocean container market worldwide does appear to have ample capacity to support demand through the remainder of 2026 and into early 2027. At the start of summer, the industry deployed some 33 million TEUs of capacity, Drewy\u2019s Damas reports.<\/p>\n As for the \u201corder book\u201d of new ships, \u201cthere are 1,600 ships on order, which is enormous. That\u2019s 38% of current capacity on order, the highest we have seen in 10 years,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n And while he also expects liner operators to scrap older ships, current projections indicate \u201cthat will not be enough to balance out the excess of new ships.\u201d He notes that the current projection for new capacity in 2027 is 3 million TEUs. Yet only 400,000 TEUs of older ship capacity is expected to be scrapped in the same time frame. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t even make a dent,\u201d he adds. That could foreshadow an overabundance of capacity as new ships come online and are fully deployed next year.<\/p>\n Damas adds that all these multiple factors are having an expected influence on container pricing. In early July, the Drewry World Container Index, the pricing benchmark widely referenced by procurement teams, showed a 9% surge to $4,530 per 40-foot TEU, reflecting rate increases on the trans-Pacific and Asia\u2013Europe trades.<\/p>\n Spot rates specifically on the trans-Pacific trade route continued to strengthen, with Shanghai to New York rising 11% to $7,902 per 40-foot container, and Shanghai to Los Angeles increasing 10% to $6,349 per 40-foot container.<\/p>\n WHERE\u2019S THE PEAK?<\/p>\n What has been the typical mid-summer to early fall peak season for ocean container demand isn\u2019t happening this year, adds Drewy\u2019s Damas. \u201cWe are not seeing the traditional peak season, which is from July through September,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He notes this year\u2019s peak started in May and has largely been characterized by a series of volume spikes for a variety of reasons. Those include BCOs (beneficial cargo owners) moving freight early to avoid the next round of U.S. tariffs, a push forward of orders to restock dwindling inventories, a building up of safety stocks to prevent stockouts, and a focus on resilience instead of just-in-time inventory practices.<\/p>\n Vespucci Maritime\u2019s Jensen also cites lagging inventory-to-sales-ratio data, \u201cwhich has dropped sharply the last two months, matching a low in 2014\u201d as another factor in the early May surge in container volumes. If that trend continues, he says, \u201cthen peak season demand and volumes [fueling higher] rates likely will be short-lived.\u201d<\/p>\n Maersk\u2019s Britton shares that while his company, like many, has experienced peak-season volumes, \u201cit really has been the same type of seasonality we have seen in the past.\u201d Maersk asked customers if they are pulling forward inventory or have changed their strategy, for whatever business reason, to address the unsettled environment. \u201cWhat we have found is everyone has a different story; there is not one through line that is common to everyone,\u201d he notes, adding \u201cfor many, it\u2019s just normal seasonality.\u201d<\/p>\n PORTS SHOWING RESILIENCE<\/p>\n Conflict in the Middle East has been one of several compounding headwinds that U.S. ports have had to navigate over the past year. And while the Port of New York & New Jersey<\/a> \u201cis not directly dependent on the Hormuz routing \u2026 the ripple effects on global shipping capacity, fuel costs, and carrier routing decisions have been significant,\u201d notes Bethann Rooney, port director for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.<\/p>\n As ship lines adopted alternate routings around the Cape of Good Hope, that added weeks to transit times and increased costs across the board for shippers. Yet the NY\/NJ port complex still finished 2025 as the nation\u2019s second-busiest seaport for loaded TEUs, moving 8.9 million TEUs overall, which Rooney pointed out was a strong performance in a volatile environment.<\/p>\n As for peak season, Rooney echoes the trending comments of other executives. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen indicators of an earlier, front-loaded peak season this year, with elevated volumes concentrated in June and July rather than the traditional late-summer surge,\u201d she says. That reflects importer response to tariff uncertainty and a desire to get products on shore ahead of any post-July increases.<\/p>\n On the capacity side, Rooney says the NY\/NJ port is closely watching forward booking data from China and Southeast Asia, vessel utilization rates on the Asia\u2013U.S. East Coast service, and blank [canceled] sailing activity.<\/p>\n The Port of Oakland<\/a> also has not been directly affected by the instability in the Middle East. Some container lines have added vessel calls to Oakland recently, \u201cgiving shippers more service options and greater flexibility,\u201d notes Carolyn Almquist, the port\u2019s business development and international marketing manager. Nevertheless, she notes, many customers have seen impacts to their supply chain from stranded or delayed cargo, higher transport costs, increased war risk premiums, and more complex challenges getting goods to market.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than anything, customers are looking for predictability,\u201d she says. \u201cWhether they are ocean carriers, beneficial cargo owners, importers, or exporters, they want reliable service and flexibility.\u201d She notes as well that with today\u2019s market conditions, \u201cmany customers want to make [shipping] decisions closer to the time cargo moves.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Noel Hacegaba, CEO of California\u2019s Port of Long Beach<\/a>, issued a similar statement emphasizing the importance of stability. \u201cThe supply chain thrives on stability and predictability,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a critical chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, the effects ripple across the entire system.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that while the Port of Long Beach primarily handles trans-Pacific trade with Asia, \u201cglobal supply chains are deeply interconnected, and stability in global trade routes and fuel prices are major factors [that] will strengthen confidence across the whole network.\u201d Nevertheless, given that Long Beach and Los Angeles are the entry point for some 40% of U.S. imports, Hacegaba emphasized that throughout this period, the port has remained resilient, with its terminals open and cargo moving normally.<\/p>\n![\"port](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/port-of-long-beach-bridge.jpg\")
![\"port](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/port-of-long-beach.jpg\")