The time sensitive nature of container shipping makes slow steaming a contentious subject between carriers and shippers, but with competition and bunker prices remaining high, Drewry believes it's speed that will have to give way as larger ships are absorbed by the market.
At the end of April, 31 vessels of over 10,000 teu were due to be delivered in 2013. The cascading of 8,000 teu ships away from the Asia-Europe trades will present problems in their new markets as volume growth is insufficient to accommodate the larger vessels. Drewry suggests there are two solutions to the problem, an increase in vessel layup or slow steaming, with the latter being the most logical.
In the months between September 2012 and March 2013, the average eastbound and westbound speeds between Asia and Northern Europe shifted from 18.7 knots and 15.4 knots to 19 knots and 14.9 knots respectively. Although individual services were largely affected by their port optimisation, Drewry estimated westbound speeds ranging from 22.2 knots to 15.2 knots and eastbound speeds from 18 knots to 11.6 knots.
An 11 vessel Asia-Europe service running at 19 knots westbound and 15 knots eastbound could absorb another vessel with a 1.5 knots drop westbound and a two knots reduction eastbound, Drewry estimates.
Summing up its report, Drewry said, "further vessel reductions between Asia and Europe and between Asia and the US should be expected soon. It will result in longer transit times, but schedule reliability should improve due to the greater opportunity for making up lost time."
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