Editorial Comment

摘要

News in the past month has been some of the most depressing since talk of a global credit crunch first surfaced about 18 months ago. First, three carriers had either 'shut-up shop' or announced they would do so as CI went to press, with the highest profile casualty being that of Bremen-based Senator Lines. The other two carriers were Singapore-headquartered New Econ Line - an intra-Asia feeder operator spun out of Regional Container Lines in 2000 - and Hong Kong-domiciled Great Ocean Container Lines, set up in 2008. Second, freight rates in many trades continued to fall, despite carriers chopping more capacity with a view to achieving a better balance between supply and demand.