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 House bill of lading and Master bill of lading
What is a Bill of Lading..?? A look into its roles and types..
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/
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..
I often read your blogs and its very informative and very useful . I wanted to know about the license trading .could you help me
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
You are welcome Zohaib, I am glad to be of help..
Hi Hariesh
I chanced upon your blog less than 1 year ago and have since been “following” you very closely. All the good stuff !
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
Thank you for your kind words and continued patronage Hassan..
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.
Thank you Jitesh, I will surely continue..
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
Glad to be of help Vale.. 🙂
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.
Thanks Vijay.. 🙂
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
Thank you for the wishes Karen, wish you the same.. 🙂
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
Thank you for the wishes Clive.. Same to you as well..
I have started to follow your blog after readin the topic “Difference between telex release and express release” :).
Hello Mr Hariesh
2016 year , it was a dark year for shipping industry . we hope this industry will recovery at 2017
Thanks
Hassan
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
Muito obrigado José 🙂