Laskaridis Shipping-led Alpha Reefer Transport pool still profitable despite containerships tightening grip

Author Mark Twain’s comment that the report of his death was an exaggeration is maybe something that should be displayed prominently on the prow of every conventional reefer ship.Doom-mongers have long predicted the demise of refrigerated cargo vessels, beaten into submission by the containership juggernauts.“This is a business which is shrinking, which is dying, but we are still making money,” one reefer player tells TradeWinds.In fact, global seaborne reefer trade is continuing to expand, with growth of more than 5% in 2017, according to Drewry Maritime Research.But the rate at which specialised reefer vessels are losing cargoes to containerships threatens the existence of many over the next five to 10 years. Money is still to be made, but increasingly in specific markets, as many fruit cargoes have already swapped to containers.

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