Search

The article presents news brief related to the U.S. merchant marine and world maritime. Maritime economists have monitored the multiplier relationship between global global domestic product (GDP) growth and seaborne trade and containerized trade. The overall seaborne trade grew barely 2 percent in 2015, while global shipping capacity rose more than 3 percent. It created an imbalance in the market and worsened the fate of commercial shipping companies in general.

The article discusses the impact of improvement in the global shipping industry on the global economic growth. Topics discussed include the decrease in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) market share, increment in the crude-oil production in the U.S. provides a new dawn for the U.S. merchant marine, and the repeal of the Jones Act with an amendment attached to the Keystone XL pipeline project in the U.S.

The article discusses the U.S. merchant marines and the conditions of international maritime community. It notes that the weak in macroeconomic fundamentals have decisively trumped monetary policy initiatives and continued to choke on global commerce of maritime sector. It states that a 3.2% increase in the world's gross domestic product for 2012, one of the slowest as compared to other recent years according to the initial estimates of the International Monetary Fund.

The article focuses on the global shipping industry in the year 2008. Every shipping market was affected by the economic slowdown in the world. Many famous shipping companies announced cutbacks and some of them discontinued their operations. The tanker industry maintained good profitability almost until the end of the year.

The article presents information on the performance of the U.S. shipping industry in 2007. Various markets included in the article are dry bulk market, tanker market, liner market, cruise market, and the U.S. Merchant Marine. Other issues discussed here include rejuvenation of the U.S. Maritime Administration, the Jones Act Scenario and Cabotage issues, environmental issues, and the Golden Nori.

This article reports that in 2004, the world's maritime community was euphoric with healthy market conditions prevailing in every related sector. It was the best year in decades, with all three major shipping markets, tanker, liner, and bulk reaching concurrent highs and every major shipyard in the world fully booked for the next three years. While the cyclical nature of shipping markets was never in question, what was uncertain was how precipitous the market decline would be after the 2004 historic highs.

The cyclical nature of the maritime sector of the U.S. is well recognized in academic literature and professional journals. Indeed, 2003 was a stellar year for the global maritime industry in general and for the shipping community in particular. Freight rates in all markets have been on a rising trend for almost two years now, despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties worldwide and the increasing concern with safety and security of global supply chains. The primary driver of the current extraordinary boom is Chinese economy and its ongoing spectacular growth.