Alphaliner, a shipping information and data provider, reported this week that there is only one container ship "MSC Alexandra" with a capacity of 14036TEU operating on the AE1/Shogun route of 2M Alliance.

According to the data of the shipping industry data analysis company eeSea, 11 ships with an average capacity of 15414TEU were deployed on the AE1/Shogun route during the 77 day round trip.

Alphaliner said that the capacity management strategy of 2M Alliance in response to the declining demand and the off-season expected after the Chinese Lunar New Year is to focus on two of the six Asia Nordic routes, including the reduction of four AE55/Griffin flights and the cancellation of AE1/Shogun routes.

As the British port is not in the AE1/Shogun alternate port, the MSC Alexandra is scheduled to arrive at Felixstowe on January 5 at 10:00 this week.

Alphaliner believes: "All the cuts will be concentrated on these routes, so that 2M alliance partners can maintain regular flights on other routes, including those that enter the Baltic Sea and directly serve Sweden, Denmark and Poland."

He added that due to the low demand for goods forecast, Maersk and MSC decided to cancel the first two voyages in 2023, and the AE1/Shogun Loop Line will not resume the operation of the entire fleet in the short term.

On the other hand, Maersk's latest report on the Asia Pacific market released at the end of December was also pessimistic about the prospects of Asian exports. Maersk said: "As the possibility of global economic recession has affected market sentiment, the outlook is more pessimistic."

Maersk added that the demand for goods is still "weak". "Due to the high inventory level and the possible global economic recession, this situation is expected to continue until 2023".

However, Maersk's 2M partner, Mediterranean Shipping (MSC), is obviously more optimistic about the longer-term demand recovery. The company has the largest ship order of all peers, with 124 ships and a capacity of about 1.73 million TEUs.