Following China, the United States and South Korea, the Taiwanese government also intervened in container shipping to cool down the overheated container shipping market.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport (MOTC) stated on December 18 that it was hosted by the Maritime Port Bureau (MPB). Its officials met with representatives of Taiwan’s liner operators on December 1 and urged them to deploy more ships, whether they were self-employed. Yes or chartered to provide more capacity for local exporters.

MOTC said: "During the meeting, liner operators are required to increase capacity, prioritize arranging cargo spaces for Taiwanese exporters and shippers, while maintaining transparency in freight rates to ensure a stable supply of space and containers."

In addition, MPB will act as an intermediary between exporters and liner operators in response to complaints about exporters failing to obtain containers in time to promote the smooth circulation of goods and maintain economic growth.

Although many mainline shipping companies have been accused of making huge profits, the transportation department of Taiwan Communications said that Taiwanese liner operators provide more containers to local shippers than foreign carriers. From September to November this year, the export containers of Taiwanese carriers increased by 27% over the same period last year, while the export containers of foreign carriers dropped by 23%.

MOTC said: “In addition to requiring carriers to increase capacity by deploying existing ships, acquiring second-hand ships and chartering ships, we also seek to speed up the return of empty containers to speed up container supply. We will continue to urge liner operators to increase container supply, To ensure that all exported goods can be shipped out in time."

MOTC acknowledges that the increase in container freight rates is caused by market dynamics, and calls on liner operators to be fair and not to opportunistically. The ministry said: “According to the Fair Trade Act, any increase in freight must be explained in detail to the shipper.”

A few days ago, Taiwan liner company Evergreen Shipping delivered two 12,000TEU-class F-type container ships at the same time, which will be put into service from Asia to the United States;

Yangming Shipping's sixth 2800TEU-class container ship was named and delivered and put into Taiwan-Hong Kong-Vietnam route. Yangming Shipping has already delivered 6 2800TEU-owned ships and 3 11000TEU long-term charter ships for operation this year. In addition, 4 2800TEU-owned ships and 11 11000TEU long-term charter ships will also be delivered from 2021 to 2022.