Philip Damas, Managing Director of Drewry Shipping Consultants, anticipates oversupply challenges in the container shipping industry in 2024. Strategies to minimize losses include an increase in blank sailings, industrial use of canceled sailings affecting departure predictability, speed reductions, and potential scrapping of older vessels. Damas predicts a collective loss of $15 billion for container lines in 2024, emphasizing that how individual lines manage supply will depend on prioritizing market share or the bottom line. Shippers are expected to secure rate cuts in 2024, albeit with a potential decline in service reliability. Damas advises shippers to negotiate beyond freight rates, examining surcharges, reducing detention costs, and clarifying terms related to "free time" in contracts. The episode also discusses challenges like new EU Emission Trading System surcharges and their impact on negotiations with container lines.

SOURCE:GOOGLE