Comment / Supply chain radar: struggling with liquidity

© Mikhail Melnikov |

“MSC takes four ships and 49% share of Messina Group”, ran the headline in Splash 24/7 on New Year’s Eve.

In short, MSC is providing short-term liquidity to the parent company, while taking a controlling stake in a holding which holds assets as collateral.

My immediate thought was that such news – almost meaningless, in the bigger scheme of things – was not worth any coverage. Yet two days later it became meaningful, as the European Central Bank confirmed what most savvy observers knew could happen: temporary ...