Forecasts of a modest recovery this year

TWO well-informed sources have come to broadly the same conclusions about the global shipping industry's prospects. International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens says in a statement that it believes the shipping industry's fortunes should be noticeably improved by 2015 if it maintains the recovery which got underway last year. But it warns that prospects for recovery may still be fragile if the industry fails to meet a number of challenges, including tighter regulation and increased operating costs.

Meanwhile international shipping industry organisation BIMCO (the Baltic and International Maritime Council) says that, despite key economic regions' notable fiscal policies aimed at stimulating growth, there is still no full-blown and self-sustainable economic recovery.

In its paper, Global Economy: Steady as she goes upwards, BIMCO says that over the past year developed economies have gained traction, while developing and emerging economies have suffered slower growth.