According to SeaIntel Consulting, the first container carriers are now beginning to ruminate on the notion of increasing speeds and thus shelving the unwritten and unspoken agreement of slow steaming, a factor that has otherwise represented good business for a long time in light of the high bunker price.

"We are now beginning to get information that some of the main east-west alliances will indeed contemplate a speed-up of some vessels, with a few services already having been shortened," says the normally well-informed analyst agency in its latest newsletter.