World Sea Cargoes At Record Levels

In its annual review of maritime transport, Unctad predicted further growth of three to 3.5 per cent this year to nearly 4.8 billion tonnes, continuing a decade of uninterrupted expansion.

The world merchant fleet is also expanding, though more slowly than seaborne trade, leading to improved use of fleet capacity. Tonnage grew last year by just over two per cent to 734.9 million deadweight tonnes. Developing countries have about 18.5 per cent of world tonnage and only a slightly lower proportion