The dry bulk shipping market is not expected to return to profitability until 2017, despite a modest recovery in earnings anticipated over the next two years, according to the latest edition of the Dry Bulk Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.
The U.S. government is taking steps to allow for larger post-Panamax-sized vessels along the lower Mississippi River as the date for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal draws closer.
Liner shipping service reliability across the three core East-West trades hit a five-month peak in March with an aggregate on-time performance of 64 percent, according to Carrier Performance Insight, the online schedule reliability tool provided by Drewry Supply Chain Advisors.
Currently, only Seaway-max size ships (2,500 TEU) can sail between the Port of Montreal and the Port of Toronto on Lake Ontario, the biggest container port on the Great Lakes. However, research is underway in the U.S. and elsewhere that offers the promise of oceanic tug-barge combinations that could be suited to this shipping route.
