DESPITE TUMBLING freight rates and ship values due to fears of overtonnaging, there are still opportunities for independent containership owners, m.d. of Griffin Shipping Holdings Mike Meehan told the CMA Shipping 97 conference in Connecticut recently.
He said that current sentiment based on fears of too many new ships due to enter the market was hitting containership charter rates hard.
But he believes that the consolidation and forming of alliances which the majors need to regain some market dominance still has a long way to go.
That means that the smaller liner carrier, and the independent owners who provide their ships, will still have a lot of opportunities for a long time to come. He said that despite a softer market and uncertain outlook, Griffin had secured employment for its fleet for most of 1997.
