Overall westbound trans-Atlantic container volumes dropped 1 percent in the first half of 2013, while vessel capacity remained relatively flat.

"This is surprising as there is much talk of rising house prices and new car sales in the U.S., so presumably much of the cargo involved has either been shipped in bulk or on ro-ro vessels," according to Drewry Maritime Research in its weekly Container Insight.

Despite the decline in containerized cargo volume, carriers ramped up capacity by 2.1 percent between July and August. Carriers increased capacity by tinkering with service frequencies and the number of canceled sailings. One sailing was canceled in July, but none in August.

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