The location and nature of transhipment hubs serving the West African port market is changing. In this complex battleground the progress of new projects has been stymied.

Carrier consolidation is moving apace with the merger of Japanese carriers, which have been given a new name.

In an over-supplied market carriers have proved to be fairly adept in manoeuvring capacity around, creating fertile conditions for rate increases.

The number of containerships of 13,000 teu or above deployed on the Asia-US West Coast trade has nearly doubled since the start of 2017. How long before the mega-ships arrive?