“Our ocean freight has basically normalized to what it was pre-pandemic after paying up to 10 times more last year.” –  Wade Miquelon, CEO of fabrics and craft retailer Joann Inc.

Carriers Could Face an Oversupply of Ships

As demand for shipments drops amid a gloomy economic outlook, some analysts have warned that the sector faces a significant oversupply of ships — something that vessel-sharing arrangements have previously helped shipping groups to manage.

The recently announced break up of Maersk and MSC’s (the world’s two largest container lines) 2M alliance is likely to put further downward pressure on ocean rates, according to analysts who see the two carriers now competing with each other.