Squire Patton Boggs is partnering with the Manufacturer's Center for Legal Action (MCLA) of the National Association of Manufacturers to provide NAM members with legal expertise on export compliance.

Overall confidence levels in the ocean shipping industry fell to a record low in the three months ending February 2016, according to a survey by shipping advisory firm Moore Stephens.

Tankers are currently the most profitable vessels in shipping with the cost to charter them remaining high by comparison with other ship types. These freight rates are expected to stay steady for the next 18 months despite a delivery boom of new tankers scheduled for late 2016, according to Devlin McStay, data analyst with IHS Maritime & Trade.

Liner schedule reliability fell to its worst level in 12 months in February when the average on-time performance slipped by 7 percentage points to 62.7 percent, according to Carrier Performance Insight, the online schedule reliability tool provided by Drewry Supply Chain Advisors.

The World Container Index's composite index, an average of spot freight rates on 11 global East-West routes connecting Asia, Europe and the U.S., reached a record low of $701 per 40-foot container recently.

Drewry, the global shipping consultancy, has carried out a simulation study of the operational and financial impacts on lines, terminal operators, ports and other supply chain stakeholders as vessel size increases up to and beyond 18,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard metric used to measure a ship's cargo carrying capacity). The study results suggest that the economies of scale, that have been a key feature of the liner industry, may be running out.