One root of the problem…
In 2020, COVID-19 become a global pandemic, and lockdowns ensued: factories, restaurants, and shops all closed,bringing global supplychain almost to a halt. In this context, container carriers had no visibility on future demand and did the only reasonable thing: cut capacity.
There is no economic sense in moving half-empty ships across the globe; it is costly, especially for a sector operated on tiny margins for a very long time.The consequence was widespread vessel cancellations, which soared in the first months of 2020 (figure 3).Progressively, more trade lines and ports were involved as containment measures were enacted globally.
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At present 10% of global container capacity is waiting to be unloaded on ship atthe anchor outside some por