While US ports have seen surging imports lead to record-breaking quarters, the picture in Europe is less rosy. Improvements in the most-recent quarter have left ports struggling to match last year’s figures

Owners are returning to yards fuelled by improved freight market sentiment and low ship prices. However, shipyards must be vigilant about the repercussion of loss-making orders that could be amplified by continued weakening of the US dollar

Soaring demand and record-high freight rates have boosted carrier finances in the third quarter of the year. The outlook for the remainder of this year and into next year also looks positive

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted on transactions in both the secondhand bulker and the ship recycling markets, new data shows, with activity in these sectors substantially down year on year. Meanwhile, container freight rates have hit new highs, but tanker spot rates on transatlantic routes are below operating costs

DP World says its UK container terminals ‘are operating effectively despite unprecedented inbound traffic’, saying imports have peaked

But Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka noted the continuing trade imbalance, saying that for every three and a half containers that are imported into Los Angeles from abroad, only one container leaves filled with US exports

Third-quarter financial results for container lines have confirmed what many already expected — profits are soaring amid the coronavirus gloom. Meanwhile, tanker owners do not expect demand for seaborne oil and refined products to return to pre-pandemic levels over the next 12 months

After the overcapacity of the past decade, box shipping's supply and demand equation is coming back into balance, with lines now looking to go back to the yards to refresh their fleets