IF THE fizz of the G20 festivities did not get the shipping industry in the party spirit, it was not because it did not care. It was just that it had other things on its mind.
Agreements to kick-start trade by boosting trade finance, rapidly concluding the Doha Round of trade negotiations, and strengthening promises to avoid protectionist measures are all welcome outcomes as far as the industry is concerned.
Of particular interest to shipping was the decision to ensure $250bn of support for trade finance over the next two years. This is an essential step given that trade is expected to register a 9% drop this year, its biggest decline since World War II.
The problem for most companies was that even if these measures do miraculously set the world on a road to recovery, they still have their own sector specific problems to deal with before they can afford the luxury of focussing on the big picture.
While the majority of other industries desperately look for bailouts and those elusive green shoots, most forecasts for shipping remain bleak thanks largely to the looming threat of overcapacity and the inevitable long-term impact on freight rates.
We may have witnessed some casualties of the recession already, but the general consensus is that there have been nowhere near enough to have a positive effect on those that have survived.
The unspoken truth is that most shipping pundits are not looking for a bailout to save the industry; they are looking for more participants to sink before they can focus properly on recovery.
