THE GHOST FLEET OFF SINGAPORE HAUNTS YOU EVEN TODAY

During the Anime Expo Robotech panel I discussed how the Global Economic Slowdown has affected the supply chain. As expected the people "who know this business" took to the internet to say this was false.

From the UK Daily Mail  from two years ago.

Some experts believe the ratio of container ships sitting idle could rise to 25 per cent within two years [by 2011 which just happens to be right now - Kev] in an extraordinary downturn that shipping giant Maersk has called a 'crisis of historic dimensions'. Last month the company reported its first half-year loss in its 105-year history.

Martin Stopford, managing director of Clarksons, London's biggest ship broker, says container shipping has been hit particularly hard: 'In 2006 and 2007 trade was growing at 11 per cent. In 2008 it slowed down by 4.7 per cent. This year we think it might go down by as much as eight per cent. If it costs £7,000 a day to put the ship to sea and if you only get £6,000 a day, than you have got a decision to make. 

'Yet at the same time, the supply of container ships is growing. This year, supply could be up by around 12 per cent and demand is down by eight per cent. Twenty per cent spare is a lot of spare of anything - and it's come out of nowhere.'

The article is worth the read as it is gotten much worse since then.