Capacity is shown in black, and volume is shown in blue. Click on the image to read the full article in the Journal of Commerce Magazine.
Shippers are more likely to find supply and demand in better balance going into the new year, a year after burgeoning U.S. import and export demand outstripped the supply of ships and sent companies scrambling for vessel space.
But some industry observers and carrier executives warn a second wave of constrained capacity is forming, a wave they say is fed by an ongoing restraint in the market for ship finance, and which could leave shippers facing tight capacity again as early as 2012.