Port projects aimed at deepening berths and investing in equipment to reach 25 or more units across may be affected by a slowdown in the trend towards ever-larger vessels, according to the AlixPartners 2015 Container Shipping Outlook report. Demand is also being affected by route and code sharing by lines. Carriers have generally preferred to consolidate operations through a growing number of alliances, although 2014 did see the first merger in many years between top 20 lines, with Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd merging with Chilean carrier CSAV, says the report.
