With the consolidation of carriers and the formation of mega-alliances, there is an opportunity to concentrate volumes and, with time, evolve into an ongoing redesign of vessel networks that will challenge the ports, marine terminals, and intermodal operators in a significant way.
The cascading of larger and ultra-large container vessels from the Europe-Far East trade lanes onto other trade lanes, such as the Far East-US routes, will create a number of healthy opportunities for the land-based operators in the US because of the favorable supply and demand situation evolving.
Lack of investments in US infrastructure continues to lag severely behind our peers in Asia and Europe. Therefore, in the next few years, the considerable transformation of the shipping industry will create substantial bottlenecks in numerous parts of the overall supply chain. It is essential that prudent investments are made in ports, marine terminal operations, and intermodal capabilities to cater to the increasing vessel sizes and related demands of the shipping lines, as well as allow for shipping lines to harvest the synergistic opportunities from the compounded consolidation.
Cooperation between operating partners is essential to optimize the capacities available and the future capital required. Improvements in automation, enhanced e-commerce platforms, and digital solutions are likewise essential in supply chain visibility and efficiencies.
Safety remains a priority. Consequently, a safety-first mentality and culture must be required for all personnel and operations.