It beats me why companies are not reselling their future freight contracts. If I was, e.g., shipping 500 TEUs of carpet that was a restock, I'd consider selling some on the spot market. But the mechanisms to do this at scale are not in place.

It highlights that liner companies (e.g. Maersk) are leaving cash on the table by selling capacity at rates which don't reflect demand, although perhaps they prefer long term stability.

I also wonder if significant demurrage costs were incurred by the logjam at ports, and that disincentivized charter shipping for a period.