The global shipping industry changes all the time, and the COVID-19 pandemic began a marked shift in how container shipping operates. Disruption caused by the pandemic has forced the industry to expand its capacity and reduce costs to remain profitable.
Containers almost stopped moving at peak Covid. As manufacturers went into lockdown and closed factories, many of the containers used to ship those manufactured goods were stranded at ports or storage depots, where they weren’t needed. Simultaneously, freight shippers were reducing the number of vessels in use due to the manufacturing slowdown.
The effects limited global shipping capacity and disrupted the worldwide flow of containers and goods. As a result, some ports were left with an excess of stored containers, while other places were left with no containers at all.