Carriers can still make money despite falling freight rates, according to Drewry's latest Container Annual Review & Forecast 2014/15. Surprisingly, some medium-sized lines retain unit cost advantages.
Drewry's research shows that the average size of vessel deployed between Asia and North Europe now exceeds 10,000 TEUs for the first time. Orders for Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) have been quiet recently, but the pace of growth in vessel sizes will continue to outstrip cargo growth for the foreseeable future.
