Drewry: Carriers’ financial stability hits record low

Maritime analyst Drewry has announced that its carrier financial stress index hit the lowest ever point since its creation following carriers’ release of their first-half 2016 results.

The fall in Drewry’s Z-score index, established during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, also coincided with the steep fall in container freight rates, which decreased to historical lows in the second-quarter of 2016.

In the Z-score freight operators’ financial stress index, which offers an insight into the financial health of specific service providers, any reading below 1.8 indicates a higher risk of bankruptcy, an area from which major carriers collectively have not been able to escape since the end of 2010.