A dead cert or wishful thinking?

Shipping has taken a hammering in the past five years, hit both by the broad weakness of the global economy and a just and a surge in orders for huge new container vessels by major shipping companies just as the 2008 financial crisis hit.

Maersk Line vessels make up around 15% of world container shipping capacity and the company said its container shipping unit swung back to a US$204m profit in the quarter from a US$599m loss a year earlier, beating forecasts.

While those results benefitted from briefly improved prices, Maersk and other major players are now desperate to raise the industry’s traditionally volatile rates, after a fall in the past two months that left most trading at a loss.