Large vessels blamed for slowest shipping growth since 2009

A UN organisation has blamed the use of increasingly large vessels for the shipping industry’s worst year since the financial crisis.

Seaborne shipments increased by 2.1% last year – the slowest growth in the industry since 2009 – according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which has released its annual review of maritime transport.

UNCTAD’s secretary-general, Mukhisa Kituyi, said: “The push for ever larger ships is at the root of the industry’s problems. There’s just not enough cargo right now to fill the newly acquired, bigger vessels.”