The latest issue of Drewry's Container Insight Weekly includes an analysis of how a Suez Canal closure would affect the container industry. Were social unrest in Egypt to disrupt shipping through the waterway, Drewry's concludes that there are enough vessels to move goods around Africa.

Siim Kallas, vice president of the European Commission, has outlined some changes to customs formalities in ports, in an effort to help shift EU transit cargo from congested highways to under-utilised short-sea shipping lanes.

Higher levels of training to maintain and improve the expertise of those employed by shippers, consolidators, warehouses and depots to pack containers is now a primary objective of a number of current industry initiatives.

A recent Alphaliner report suggests that the liner shipping industry is unlikely to see much consolidation in the foreseeable future despite the carriers' present financial difficulties.

Logistics companies and their clients run the risk of prosecution under the UK Bribery Act which was passed 12 months ago, according to research carried out by GoodCorporation.

The uncertainty that prevailed in 2011 resulted in a particularly volatile and difficult year for the freight forwarding industry, according to Global Freight Forwarding 2012, the latest report by Transport Intelligence.