It may not be noticeable here as the global economic recession has not impacted upon the number of local visits by container ships servicing Port Chalmers.
But the current worldwide situation is seriously affecting various sectors of the shipping and shipbuilding industries.
Container lines have been experiencing declining cargo volumes and have been forced to reduce services and lay up vessels at anchorages throughout the world.
Large overseas ports report reduced volumes of traffic and job losses, shipbuilding contracts have been cancelled and there has been an upsurge of all types of vessels being sent off to ship-breakers.
Early in January, 210 boxships were reported to be idle.
By mid-February, this number had increased to 392 and in March to 453.
At the end of April, 486 container ships were said to be in lay-up and last week the figure was given as 537, which represents 11% of the world boxship fleet.
Of the three top carriers, Maersk, with a market share of 15.3%, is said to have about 8% of its fleet inactive.
Mediterranean Shipping, which has increased its capacity in the past six months, has 1% laid up, and CMA CGM 2%.
Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines, whose liner shipping arm APL made a bid for Hapag-Lloyd last year and was one of the first companies to withdraw vessels, has 23% of its fleet idle.
A large number of the idle ships are those that have come off charter and include more than 100 smaller vessels in the 1000TEU-2500TEU range.
More than 20 larger than 7500TEU are also out of service.
Freight and charter rates in all sectors of the shipping industry have also been plummeting in recent months.
For instance, a 4400TEU container ship chartered out a few weeks ago for $US8500 ($NZ13,900) per day had dropped from $US12,000 a day in February, and from $US38,000 a day a year before. Also feeling the effects of the global financial crisis is the world's shipbuilding industry.
Orders for 492 vessels are reported as having been cancelled.
This figure includes 78 container ships, 47 tankers and 325 bulk carriers, which alone amount to 9.6% of the tonnage on order.
Operators of car carriers have also been feeling the pinch lately.
At the end of February, 30 were laid up, but within a week the number had risen to more than 40.
More recently a number of these, along with bulk carriers, container ships, tankers and other vessels, have made their last voyages to the breakers' yards. Ship-breaking is currently on a roll despite prices averaging $US250 per tonne light displacement, compared with up to three times this amount in August 2008.
One report suggests that as many as 1000 ships could be scrapped this year, mainly in the Indian subcontinent, where India has 200 yards, Bangladesh 50 and Pakistan 25.
In the first four months of this year 120 bulk carriers, 51 container ships and a number of car carriers were scrapped. Two Mitsui-OSK vessels scrapped were the 1983-built, 27,566gt Crystal Ace, which made three calls to Port chalmers, and the 28,452gt Violet Ace, dating from 1986, which came here twice.
The former fetched $US1.92 million and the latter $US1.76 million. Both end their days at Alang.
Earlier this month, the chartered container ship MSC Wellington arrived at Bhavangar, 50km from Alang, for demolition.
This much-renamed 16,868gt, 1253TEU vessel, built in 1981, made only one call at Port Chalmers, on September 30, 2007.
