Poor container shipping freight levels and the countdown to the reformation of alliances in March of 2017 have pre-empted any mass invasion of new capacity in the Asia-East Coast North America (ECNA) trade, thus further drift of cargo from a West Coast routing to an East Coast carriage will be gradual, according to shipping consultancy Drewry.
After the widened Panama Canal commenced operation, the new set of locks saw the first Neopanamax vessel, the 10,000 TEU MOL Benefactor, perform a commercial transit through the canal en route for a berth slot at an East Coast port of New York.
