Concerned shippers have recently ordered extra goods due to a heated container market with rising freight rates and demand.

But the market is not heading towards the same chaotic conditions seen during the pandemic a couple of years ago, says Johan Sigsgaard, a member of Maersk’s senior management team and responsible for the container product to ocean freight customers, to Danish business media Børsen.

”During corona, a situation was created that reinforced itself because people pushed their goods forward to make sure they were transported, and that created even bigger bottlenecks,” he tells the newspaper after having discussed the situation with several customers.

According to Sigsgaard, it’s more a case of solid demand coincidentally coinciding with key ports facing congestion. The congestion has arisen in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East and the Red Sea, which means that ships are sailing south of Africa instead.

He believes it is more a matter of the economy doing well in Europe, and that this leads to a strong basic demand.

(English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk)