Carriers Blank Sailings to Lift Freight Rates as Asia-Europe and Transpacific Spot Prices Rise in Late October

Container spot freight rates on all three of the largest east-west trades — Asia-Europe, Transpacific, and Transatlantic — were rising in the week of October 23, 2026, as carriers opted for more blanked sailings to support rate levels after a prolonged period of softening, according to reporting by sources. The deployment of capacity discipline through blank sailings, combined with ongoing geopolitical disruptions reshaping routing and schedule reliability, has allowed carriers to stabilise freight markets in the face of what should otherwise be a structurally oversupplied environment. 

The move toward blank sailings come in a market that presents contradictory signals. On one hand, the global containership orderbook has reached 46.5% of the active fleet — a post-2009 peak at 16.2 million TEUs — with a major 2028 delivery wave on the horizon. On the other hand, ongoing disruptions from Panama Canal water restrictions, residual Suez Canal caution, elevated bunker fuel costs, and earlier-than-usual peak season frontloading have created pockets of genuine supply tightness. Intra-Asia rates are separately receding from their recent highs as bottlenecks at major Chinese ports ease following the post-typhoon backlog clearance.

 The containership charter market reflects the same dynamic: Braemar's charter index stands at 325.8, up 21% year-on-year and at its highest since autumn 2022, with feeder and panamax vessels (1,500–1,900 TEU) commanding a median USD 28,625 per day for nine-to-fifteen month fixtures. Charter costs are running at roughly double their 2021–2024 average relative to freight rates — an unusual divergence that suggests vessel owners are capturing returns that carriers are not fully passing through to shippers in spot rate terms. Slower service speeds due to elevated bunker prices are extending effective vessel employment and absorbing available tonnage, contributing to the tightness despite the large orderbook. 

Looking forward, the largest delivery wave on record in 2028 — paired with potential easing of Suez Canal disruptions as the Iran situation evolves and demand forecasted to weaken in 2027 — represents the primary structural downside risk for carriers and vessel owners. Blank sailing discipline in Q4 2026 is therefore as much about managing the perception of the market as it is about balancing near-term supply and demand.