Chapter 40: Structure and Operations in the Liner Shipping Industry^†

Shipping is a global service industry that by general acknowledgement provides the lifeline of international trade. Suffice it to say that, due to the morphology of our planet, 90% of international trade takes place by sea. Technological developments in ship design and construction, and the ensuing economies of scale of larger ships, have also promoted trade – particularly this of developing countries – by making economical the transportation of goods over long distances. This has expanded markets for raw materials and final products and has facilitated the industrialization of many countries around the world. Often, international ocean transportation and information and communication technologies are referred to as the two basic ingredients of globalization (Stiglitz, 2006).