Shipper demand for 40-foot high-cube containers is still increasing, creating stowage problems for ocean carriers and analytical difficulties for trade forecasters using TEU measurements.
Ship suppliers are managing to weather the economic storm by putting solid and vetted business partnerships ahead of any major move towards online procurement, according to one of the industry's trade bodies.
The International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed that piracy on the world's seas is at its lowest third-quarter level since 2006, but warns of the threat of continuing violent attacks off the East and West coasts of Africa.
The world's biggest container shipping line by market share is predicting that the world will come out of the funk induced by the financial crisis in the coming two years.
U.S. imports in August are the second-highest month for twenty-foot container volume in 2013, according to Zepol, a trade intelligence company. The United States imported nearly 1.61 million TEUs in August, which is 5% less than July's 1.69 million, but a half a percentage higher than August of last year.
All of the ports on the East Coast "have to get in the game," Vice President Joe Biden said recently, and get ready to accept larger cargo ships that will come through an expanded Panama Canal by 2015.
After a strong start in the first quarter, container volumes in the trans-Atlantic trade have declined, and average vessel utilization has dropped sharply, eroding freight rates. As a result, container lines are likely to start canceling vessel sailings in October, according to Drewry.
Drewry's latest annual report on global and international container terminal operators shows that the sector remains dynamic and profitable, but that numerous changes are also taking place, including the challenge of growth on two fronts - in container demand and in ship sizes.
A mixture of financial necessity and commercial reality is further forcing ocean carriers to return to providing core services only. Shipping lines are still being squeezed out of providing home-grown integrated logistics services. This is evidenced by Maersk's recent news that it has entered into an agreement to sell the assets of its U.S. trucking subsidiary, Bridge Terminal Transport.
A maritime attack from Al-Qaeda or other affiliate terrorist groups is now increasingly likely, maritime security firm Gulf of Aden Group Transits (GoAGT) has warned.
