2016, a review of the year that was, for shipping and freight

December 13, 2016

2016, a review of the year that was, for shipping and freight !!! Hmmmmm, what can I say about 2016..

I don’t recall a more tumultuous year for shipping, especially the containerised variety than 2016.. Even the infamous recession and depression of 2008 fades in comparison to what 2016 has wrought upon the shipping industry..

Why do I say that..?? Well, 2016 has mostly been a year of total unpredictability as far as shipping and freight is concerned with a lot of activity (both negative and positive) happening within the Top 10 Container Lines causing some major upheavals in the positions within the Top 10..

It has also been a year of spectacular and unprecedented happenings like the collapse of Hanjin Shipping which became the single largest shipping news item in 2016 causing a momentary wide-spread panic in the containerised world and flaming speculation of other lines going bust, but the panic and speculation seemed to have settled down soon enough..

2016 was also a year of consolidation and integration with

the merger of China Shipping/Cosco Container Lines
the merger of Hapag-Lloyd/UASC
the announcement of an impending merger by 3 major Japanese carriers NYK, MOL and K-Line
the acquisition of NOL by CMA-CGM and most recently
the acquisition of Hamburg Sud by Maersk Line

Do you remember any other year in recent history where so much happened in the shipping world..!!

2016 also saw most shipping segments, except maybe for tankers bottoming out with historically low levels of freight rates and weak earnings..

The tanker market remained strong mainly due to the consistent drop in oil prices whereas in the container segment, freight rates declined steadily inspite of a knee-jerk but short lived increase in freight rates following the collapse of Hanjin Shipping..

The container market continues to struggle with weak demand but more importantly due to many of the behemoth container vessels coming in to the service throughout the year..

Measures like idling, slow steaming, consolidation, restructuring of alliances, integration etc has not slowed down the falling market..

So yeah, all of the above has left the shipping pundits and economists scratching their heads to get a grip on what the market is actually doing or will do..

While the pundits are busy guessing away and keeping all of us guessing about the state of shipping, something that I don’t have to guess but can rather be sure of, is the unwavering and unstinting support that I have received from YOU my dear reader..

Your support to my blog has been rock solid and you have been absolutely amazing with your contribution in terms of comments on the articles and questions that trigger such articles..

Your support and encouragement saw me churning out 59 quality articles in 2016 🙂 for which I thank you immensely and hope to maintain and improve this support in 2017..

As 2016 winds to a close and as most of the world is getting ready for a holiday eatathon, I thought I would wind down the year with a rating of the best articles of 2016 for Shipping and Freight Resource..

Here are the TOP 10 articles of 2016 based on the number of times these articles have been viewed across the year..

Difference between Demurrage and Detention

Difference between House bill of lading and Master bill of lading

What is a telex release..??

What is a HS Code..??

How to calculate CBM and Freight Ton

What is a Bill of Lading..?? A look into its roles and types..

What is CY-CY Term in Container Shipping..??

What is a Switch Bill of Lading and when and why is it used..??

https://www.shippingandfreightresource.com/difference-between-a-freight-forwarder-and-clearing-agent/

Relationship between Consignee and Notify Party

While the above were the most viewed articles in 2016, the KEY QUESTION is :

From all the articles on the site, which article(s) did you find the most helpful..??

If you would like to refresh yourself of all the posts, pls click here.. Feel free to comment on this post and share your favourite article..

Reneesh January 5, 2017 At 11:14 AM

I often read your blogs and its very informative and very useful . I wanted to know about the license trading .could you help me

Reply
Zohaib December 26, 2016 At 12:18 PM

I often read your blogs and find it very useful in my life as your articles cover almost every daily shipping activities and as a shipping professional i have got to know many such things which i don’t know before. Specially container stowage and planning.

Thanks for sharing these details

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 29, 2016 At 6:20 PM
  
  You are welcome Zohaib, I am glad to be of help..
K C Lee December 21, 2016 At 4:15 AM

Hi Hariesh

I chanced upon your blog less than 1 year ago and have since been “following” you very closely. All the good stuff !

Reply
hassan December 18, 2016 At 10:42 PM

Dear Mr Hariesh

i would like to thank u so much for ur articles because of Ur easy way for understanding us the shipping industry ,

really u r good teacher , it is not easy to choose which post article is the best of other , i think all ur articles are very useful ,

Happey new year Sir

Thanks

Hassan Elzend

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 20, 2016 At 9:39 AM
  
  Thank you for your kind words and continued patronage Hassan..
Jitesh Nidarshan December 15, 2016 At 9:46 AM

Thank you Hariesh, i added a lot and learned a lot from your blog. It’s really remarkable and useful for anyone in shipping trade. Hope you’ll help to develop the shipping knowledge more and more on upcoming year.
All the best and my wishes for 2017.

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 16, 2016 At 9:06 PM
  
  Thank you Jitesh, I will surely continue..
Vale December 15, 2016 At 5:03 AM

Hello Hariesh!
Thank you for your amazing blog. I’m a trainee by a Freight Forwarder company and your articles helped me so many times that I can’t even count them. Thanks for sharing your precious knowledge.
Happy Holidays

V

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 16, 2016 At 9:05 PM
  
  Glad to be of help Vale.. 🙂
M Vijay December 14, 2016 At 11:23 AM

Gday Hariesh,

Thanks Hariesh for your writings and explanations. They had been very helpful in my work. Hope you keep on writing and wishing you the best in 2017. Happy new year.

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 14, 2016 At 12:12 PM
  
  Thanks Vijay.. 🙂
KarenM December 13, 2016 At 11:01 PM

Thank you for another year ! I always look forward to your post and enjoy sharing them with colleagues.
Happy Holidays and wishing you a wonderful 2017

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 13, 2016 At 11:14 PM
  
  Thank you for the wishes Karen, wish you the same.. 🙂
Clive Avanasigan December 13, 2016 At 3:41 PM

Good day Hariesh
Thank you for another year of enlightment in the Shipping Industry. Well done and long may you continue .
Shipping has been quite slow in our part of the world so we are looking forward to some kind of upward trend in the Africa business development sector.
Compliments of the Season and Best Wishes for Y 2017

CA

Reply
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 13, 2016 At 5:19 PM
  
  Thank you for the wishes Clive.. Same to you as well..
Cholpon December 13, 2016 At 8:01 AM

I have started to follow your blog after readin the topic “Difference between telex release and express release” :).

Reply
hassan December 13, 2016 At 1:45 AM

Hello Mr Hariesh

2016 year , it was a dark year for shipping industry . we hope this industry will recovery at 2017

Thanks

Hassan

Reply
- JOSÉ MONTEIRO DA ROCHA December 13, 2016 At 11:59 AM
  
  Thanks Hariesh for this blog. I’m Lawyer in Oporto, Portugal, mainly in the shipping business practice. I read and follow all Your posts and comments. Many times I revisit Your blog to obtain know-how and to clarift my doubts in shipping matter. A Merry Christmas and a good New Year 2017 to You and to all readers. Best regards. Monteiro da Rocha
- Hariesh Manaadiar December 13, 2016 At 1:53 PM
  
  Muito obrigado José 🙂