Ocean carriers increasingly targeting better-paying reefer containers

Container lines will “accelerate their assault” on the seaborne reefer market, but their aspirations could result in equipment shortages, according to Drewry.

In its latest edition of the Reefer Shipping Market Review and Forecast, the shipping consultant predicts that, by 2021, the perishable reefer cargo modal split will have increased to around 85% carried on containerships, compared with 79% in 2016.

Thus, Drewry estimates that dedicated reefer vessels will see their percentage of the market shrink from 21% last year to 15% by ...