Let's remember who really makes shipping work
At the end of the day, it is the tireless, sometimes thankless, work of dedicated seafarers that makes a difference
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IT HAS been an eventful and often difficult year for the shipping industry. For example, the Hanjin Shipping crash was a huge shock, with ramifications that will spill over into the New Year, and probably well beyond. As InterManager president Bjorn Jebsen said in an end-of-year statement: "The frighteningly low freight markets' domino effect on the whole industry has tested even the most seasoned of maritime professionals."
For the tramp trades, feast and famine is the way of life - but this is a particularly nasty famine. The once buoyant offshore industry is hurting badly as the price of oil stays well below that required for renewed investment in offshore oil and gas. As for the container sector, it will come as no surprise to regular readers of this column that I believe there to be an intractable structural problem, which can only lead to more consolidation.
But this week's column is not about shipping economics as such. It is about the most important people in the industry.
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