A whopping 149 canceled sailings were announced between week 2 (January 9-15) and week 6 (February 6-12) of a total of 707 scheduled sailings, representing a cancellation rate of 21 percent, according to Drewry's Canceled Sailings Tracker.

"During this period, 58 percent of blank sailings will be on the Transpacific Eastbound, 31 percent on Asia-North Europe and Med, and 11 percent on the Transatlantic Westbound trade."

Over the next five weeks, THE Alliance announced 54 cancellations, followed by Ocean Alliance and 2M with 46 and 17 cancellations respectively, the update said. "In the same period, 32 blank sailings have been implemented in non-alliance services."

Leading up to Chinese New Year (January 22), pre-holiday freight rushes failed to match historic volumes, Drewry said in his latest update. Spot rates are showing more resilience, however, with Drewry's composite index up 0.7 percent this week, its first increase in 43 weeks, but down 77 percent from the same week last year.

The small upswing appears fragile as carriers continue to decline sailings in anticipation of the overcapacity expected in the market by 2023, Drewry said in his Canceled Sailings Tracker report.