THE Alliance (Hapag Lloyd, ONE, Yang Ming) announced to general surprise that 'in view of increasing demand,' it was reinstating two transpacific sailings, starting with the voyage of the 6,572-TEU YM Mandate leaving China May 29 and arriving in Los Angeles on June 16, and the sailing of the 10,000-TEU Seaspan Brightness, departing May 25 and arriving in LA June 10.

Nerijus Poskus, global head of ocean freight at Flexport, recently told New York's FreightWaves that most current transpacific sailings are full, with excess cargo having to be 'rolled' to subsequent sailings.

Meanwhile, the premium transpacific service of Matson recently added two extra loaders 'in order to meet strong demand,' including a sailing by the 2,824-TEU Capt Thanasis arriving in Long Beach on May 26. An extra loader is an unscheduled extra sailing, the opposite of a blank sailing.

If demand exceeds the supply of the remaining transpacific services that haven't been blanked, spot rates will rise, at least temporarily.

According to the Freightos Baltic Index, spot rates from China to the US west coast increased 33 per cent between February 28 and Thursday, and despite the global pandemic, they were at least 20 per cent higher than at the same time in each of the past three years.

But Maersk Line expects volume to be down 20 -25 per cent this month and next and is providing no guidance on the third quarter.