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Time for a shipping speed-up?

[ March 4, 2015   //   ]

Ship operators should consider speeding up services again now that fuel prices have tumbled, says Danish analysts, SeaIntel. Many ship operators have resorted to slow- or super-slow steaming at a time when fuel costs have hit all-time highs, but oil prices now have fallen more than most people had thought possible a year ago. At the same time it would reduce shippers’ inventory costs and make shipping more attractive compared with other modes of transport. Moreover, slower steaming means that more vessels are needed to cover the same route, and if vessel costs outweigh bunker costs, it should make sense to speed services up. In some cases carriers would be able to hand vessels back to charterers.

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