4. Rates
There is little sign that freight-rate volatility will change on the major trade lanes in 2015 with no indication as yet that lines will change their marketing or sales ploys.

With bigger vessels coming on stream, lines will be under pressure to make sure slots are filled and external factors such as congestion, sulphur surcharges and seasonal demand will mean that lines will look to general rate increases to drive box prices.

5. Ship sizes
Expect containership capacities to continue to head upwards, with the 20,000 teu mark surpassed as lines strive for economies of scale and lower slot costs.

There are no immediate technical barriers to larger ships, most experts predicting that boxship sizes have further to go before port and land-side infrastructure constraints put a ceiling on slot capacity. That is likely to be around the 24,000 teu.

The largest ship today is the 19,224 teu MSC Oscar, which will enter service in late January, overtaking China Shipping’s 19,100 teu CSCL Globe and Maersk’s 18,270 teu Triple-Es.

A number of lines now have 18,000 teu-class ships on order, but these can easily be modified to a theoretical 20,000 teu, so some of this size may already be under construction.

Meanwhile G6 members MOL and Hapag-Lloyd are both very close to ordering what could be the first official 20,000 teu ships, with others probably not far behind.

6. Ship speeds
WHEN vessels started to reduce speed some eight years as oil prices soared, slow steaming was regarded as something of a short-term gimmick, as containerships cut back from around 26 knots to nearer 22 knots to burn less fuel.

Today, super-slow steaming is the norm, low charter rates enabling lines to hire extra tonnage to maintain weekly schedules and still save money.

But with oil prices on the slide, will ships start to speed up again?

Industry leaders are divided; Maersk chief executive Soren Skou extols the benefits of very slow ship speeds for environmental and cost reasons, whereas Seaspan boss Gerry Wang expects some acceleration.

In the highly competitive world of container shipping where lines are constantly seeking ways to outflank each other, it seems a fair bet that carriers may take the opportunity to bring back some express services if, as seems highly likely, bunker prices continue to weaken.
(Source : www.lloydsloadinglist.com)