The Strategies of Container Shipping Companies in the Evolution of Global Logistics

This chapter sets the monumental shifts that are taking place under the influence of Covid into the context of the long-term evolution of liner shipping and logistics services. This evolution is driven by the economics underlying the business strategies of shippers and the service providers competing for their business. Therefore, the key drivers of shippers’ logistics strategy are outlined before describing the objectives and evolving strategies of liner shipping companies. The outcome is patterns of change that have varied over time among service providers. Future patterns of change will be influenced greatly by the evolution of digitisation and the responses of shippers and service suppliers to the shocks of insufficient capacity available during the Covid period. The rate of change reflects the extraordinary profitability of lines under Covid.