In a new report, shipbreaking company Clarkson reveals to the market the impact of the Red Sea crisis on container ship deployment trends following a "cascading" increase in container traffic last year.

Smaller ships that have been "decentralised" from the Asia-Europe route have returned to the trade route, with the proportion of ships under 17,000 teu deployed on the Asia-Europe route increasing by 11% year-on-year to 42% last month.

Clarkson analyst Thomas Grant also noted that the deployment share of 12,000-17,000 TEU vessels on the trans-Pacific route is growing, but the shift of these vessels to the Far East-Europe route has kept that share steady, at 46 percent this year.

By contrast, orders poured in during the coronavirus induced boom, and the 2023 pullback coincided with the delivery of multiple new ships.

A total of 2.3 million TEUs were put into service last year, equating to an 8% increase in capacity, with the supply pressure most severe for larger vessels - 850,000 TEUs of 12,000-17,000 TEUs were put into service, and capacity in this size range increased by 18%.

Because ships of this size are the main workforces in the Trans-Pacific, many ships are assigned to this route, which will account for 45% of Trans-Pacific capacity by December 2023 (up from 39% in January).

The Red Sea crisis reversed that, with ships on the Asia-Europe route rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks en route to the Suez Canal. Longer voyages mean more ships are needed to meet demand.

On other routes, including the Far East-South America, there was also an increase in the deployment of 12,000-17,000 teu vessels, which increased from 19 percent to 37 percent between January 2023 and December 2023, although this stabilized at 39 percent last month.

Grant concluded: "Disruptions from the Red Sea event have therefore impacted deployment trends through 2024... "While the impact is not as widespread as it was during the coronavirus period (market volatility is not as dramatic), the deployment trend of large tankers has changed significantly."