Future looks bleak for giant container ships

New York

IN December, the quarter-mile-long Benjamin Franklin became the largest cargo ship ever to dock at a US port. Five more mega-vessels were supposed to follow, creating a trans-Pacific shipping juggernaut by the end of May. But thanks to a massive miscalculation on the part of the fleet's owner - there's not enough demand for all that shipping - the Benjamin Franklin made its last US port visit a few weeks ago.

It was an ignominious end to an overly ambitious plan. But it shouldn't have been a surprise. The shipping industry is struggling through its worst recession in half a century, and that icon of globalisation - the mega-container ship - is a major part of the problem. With global growth and trade still sluggish, and the benefits of sailing and docking big boats diminishing with each new generation, ship owners are belatedly realising that bigger isn't better.