London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants says that the global capacity of reefer container ships is expected to grow by 20 percent over the next three years. Drewry also reports that perishables moved over the seas in 2014 increased by nearly five percent to exceed 100 million metric tons.

Shipping analysts Alphaliner reported that the two carriers involved in recent container line megamergers – France's CMA CGM (merged with NOL / APL) and China COSCO (merged with CSCL) – are now looking at forming a shipping alliance to compete with Maersk and MSC's 2M.

The latest Dry Bulk Freight Forecaster from Maritime Strategies International reports a deterioration of the consultancy's cautiously optimistic view for improvement in the dry bulk market in the next six months.

Global container ship capacity is expected to increase by 4.6 percent in 2016, the slowest growth rate in more than 25 years, giving some relief to an industry hammered by oversupply, consultancy firm Alphaliner forecast on Tuesday.

Two new reports released this week call attention to the dangers of bribery and corruption in global supply chains and their links to modern day slavery. Modern Slavery and Corruption and An Exploratory Study on the Role of Corruption in International Labour Migration provide a snapshot of the extent and global spread of corrupt practices, the ways in which they interact with myriad forms of exploitation and the impact of legislation put in place to curb both.

Following up on last fall's successful campaign to include a port performance statistics program in the federal long-term surface transportation bill, the National Retail Federation now leads a coalition of more than 100 groups in sending specific recommendations to the Department of Transportation.