Maritime transport

The growing globalization of the economy has been largely enabled by maritime transport and its rapid evolution, in terms of organization, technological development and transport prices. This globalization of trade itself reinforces the role of maritime transport, given the scale of its development. Indeed, during periods of expansion, demand for transport grows faster than world production, a sign of the multiplier effect of trade.

Today's market is global, and every company needs to be competitive on the international market. Maritime transport is an integral part of this competitiveness, since the price of the product delivered to the consumer market includes the cost of transport from the place of production to the place of consumption.

Significant technical developments have taken place, in terms of ship design, speed and fuel consumption. There have also been major organizational changes, particularly in the liner sector: larger ships, more efficient port handling systems, service to and from main ports by splitting up to secondary ports (hub & spokes system), alliances... leading to major productivity gains in the maritime sector.

Competition is fierce and prices fluctuate, but always with a downward trend and a very low level compared with other modes of transport. This trend is driving shipping companies to make new investments to benefit from technological improvements that will enable them to keep their production costs down and remain competitive. But they are also helping to create the overcapacity that is one of the sector's hallmarks. As the pace of change is rapid, and the lifespan of ships long, older vessels remain in the market.

If they choose their partners carefully, shippers have the means to obtain high-quality, low-cost shipping that allows them to be competitive.

As we shall see, the growth and evolution of international trade play a key role in shaping today's shipping industry 1 . Faced with these developments, shipper companies have to take into account a number of constraints specific to their activities, which will lead them to choose between on-demand transport and scheduled transport