DANISH logistics giant DSV has leased some containers and chartered an 1,800 TEU vessel to operate a one-off direct service in early June from China to North Europe with one stop in Denmark and the other at an as yet not decided second port, reports Singapore's Splash 247.

The move follows incredible tightness of available slots on almost all tradelanes that has forced the largest logistics operator to charter in a small ship to move cargoes from Asia to Europe. The average capacity of ships plying this route is 10 times the size of the ship DSV has taken on charter.

"This should be seen as a clear indication of just how extremely pressured the market is in terms of lack of available capacity," commented Lars Jensen, the CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime.

In December last year, DSV decided to do something similar amid the tight box markets, chartering three multipurpose (MPP) vessels capable of carrying 650 TEU each to create a service linking Denmark with China.

The extraordinary market conditions on the Asia-Europe tradelane have seen other new entrants take to the seas this year. China United Lines (CU Lines), best known as an intra-Asia operator, has chartered three sub-5,000 TEU ships for a series of voyages created with XSTAFF, a Dusseldorf-based international purchasing network.