Following Dr Yap was Dr Adam Kent, Managing Director of Maritime Strategies International, who pointed out that market inefficiencies have played a key role in keeping shipping markets buoyant in 2020. However, the industry should be vigilant for consequences when these inefficiencies unwind. These inefficiencies have been brought about by a myriad of factors such as the recent Suez Canal blockage, longer delays in port turnarounds, slow-steaming, deployment of vessels on inefficient routes due to global geopolitical issues, and detours to cater for crew changes due to COVID.
There are also sectorspecific inefficiencies, for example, some crude tankers have been deployed as floating storage instead of transportation. Dr Kent noted that these inefficiencies have generally limited the availability of the global fleet. However, when these unwind, the market needs to be prepared for the consequential withdrawal of the corresponding upside. Dr Kent believes that strong growth in the dry bulk and containership sectors will cushion these effects; however, the tanker sector, which has been more directly impacted by the pandemic, may be more adversely impacted.
CASTING AN EYE ON MARKETS IN 2021 AND BEYOND
The Singapore Shipping Forum 2021 is hosted annually by Moore Stephens, Singapore, is organized in conjunction with co-sponsor BNP Paribas, Singapore, and is supported by both the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and the Singapore Shipping Association. The event is part of the Singapore Maritime Week 2021, an event organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and was attended by more than 300 delegates.