Gloom and doom in shipping

WITH the eurozone in crisis over Greece and China's stock market heading south, it would be nice to come across some reassuringly good news about the shipping industry. Sadly, there is little comfort to be had from the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from Moore Stephens.

According to the international accountant and shipping adviser, overall confidence levels in the shipping industry fell during the three months to May 2015 to a level equal to the lowest rating recorded in the past seven years. Apparently, respondents mainly complained about low freight rates and overtonnaging, while some expressed continuing doubts about private equity funding.

In May, the average confidence level expressed by respondents in the markets in which they operate was 5.3 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), down from 5.5 in February. This equals the lowest figure recorded in the life of the survey, which was launched in May 2008 with a confidence rating of 6.8.