The container-lines working on U.S.-inbound routes have seen 21 months of expanding volumes out of the past 22. Growth slowed in March though to 3%, in part due to weaker volumes on lanes running from China. Much of the liners’ performance relates to internal factors though.

Ocean Network Express got off to an inauspicious start after booking system problems resulted in a 20% drop in volumes handled vs. a year earlier. That worked to the advantage of Maersk (which has retained Hamburg Sud as a standalone brand and saw a 20% rise) and CMA-CGM (which has completed the integration...