Last year, ocean shippers lost an estimated $15bn (£10bn). This year they are making money again. With a vengeance.
The world’s largest container shipping firm, AP Moller-Maersk Group, recently raised its predictions for this year’s bonanza, forecasting earnings in excess of the $3.5bn profits it clocked up in 2008.
And though a recovery in rates was expected, the scale of the increase has come as a surprise.
There are no guarantees that the good times will last, however. Though international trade is expected to grow sharply this year compared with 2009, there are still widespread fears of a double-dip recession.