Vessel congestion drives record container capacity levels

Container shipping capacity on major East-West trade lanes reached record levels in October and November 2026, with vessel congestion and schedule delays contributing to a sharp increase in deployed weekly capacity.
Asia-Europe services have recorded particularly high levels, with average weekly capacity exceeding 350,000 TEUs on the Asia-North Europe route and 260,000 TEUs on Asia-Mediterranean services during October and November.

The increases depart from the usual seasonal pattern, when carriers typically reduce capacity towards the end of the year following China’s Golden Week holiday, in response to softer fourth-quarter demand.

Instead, deployed capacity accelerated during October and November, moving away from trends recorded between 2012 and 2025.

Capacity had remained elevated throughout 2026 on both Asia-Europe routes, partly because of the Red Sea crisis, which forced carriers to deploy additional vessels to maintain weekly service frequencies.

The Transpacific trade has also experienced higher capacity levels. Asia-North America West Coast services reached nearly 393,000 TEUs in average weekly deployed capacity in October, with November expected to approach 400,000 TEUs.

Asia-North America East Coast capacity remained broadly in line with historical levels until August before rising to its highest recorded levels in October and November.

The increase is largely attributed to vessel bunching resulting from port congestion and schedule unreliability in Asia.

Ships originally scheduled to depart during the third quarter experienced delays, pushing departures into October and November.

This has concentrated vessel movements and inflated reported deployed capacity across the major trade lanes.

The figures indicate that elevated capacity levels do not necessarily reflect a corresponding increase in underlying demand or the addition of new vessel capacity, but are also influenced by delayed sailings and disruptions to shipping schedules.