The market is heading for a “structural reset”

Dark clouds are gathering over the containership market as pressure on rates and massive new capacity push major players back into losses.

MAERSK said its ocean division recorded an EBIT loss of 153 million dollars in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from a profit of 567 million dollars in the previous quarter and 1.6 billion dollars in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

At the same time, the Danish shipping company is cutting 1,000 jobs by 2026, reinforcing the shift to stricter cost management, while also announcing a share buyback program of 1 billion dollars.

Ocean Network Express presented a similarly negative picture, announcing operating losses of 84 million and net losses of 88 million for the same period, with CEO Jeremy Nixon speaking of an “particularly demanding operating environment.”

Analysts noted that further declines in freight rates ahead of the Chinese New Year and the inability of companies to reverse the decline are testing margins.

According to Drewry, the industry is heading towards a “structural reset” as gains from the pandemic period recede and a huge orderbook of newbuildings is delivered.

Freightos and Xeneta have issued similar warnings, stressing that the resumption of Suez Canal routes could “free up” up to 6%-8% of global capacity.

Maersk made its first transit through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in almost two years in December, after attacks by the Yemeni-based Houthi rebels had subsided.

In this environment, liners are called upon to manage a new cycle of lower margins, with an emphasis on fiscal discipline, cost control and capacity management, in order to avoid a repeat of the intense downward cycles of the past.