How to spend it in 2026

According to a new report from Fitch Ratings, next year will still be challenging due to a myriad of geopolitical and policy risks. Shipping will also be hit by the lower GDP growth expected across most major economies in 2026 compared to 2025.

Adam Kent, managing director at MSI, agrees with several aspects of this report and believes that the circling geopolitical winds will continue to impact markets into 2026.

“These forces, coupled with asset prices that remain relatively high and stubbornly sticky against a volatile earnings backdrop, make choosing a sector to invest in over the next 12 months more challenging than usual,” he explains to Splash Extra. Read more at Splash247.com

MSI’s Adam Kent: The Structural Shifts Redefining Global Shipping Markets

At the Xinde Marine Forum, Dr Adam Kent, Managing Director of MSI, delivered a data-rich and forward-looking keynote that combined market analytics with deeper structural insights from MSI’s latest research. Read more at Xinde Marine News.

Year-end dry bulk rally collides with overcapacity

Two-year high bulker earnings contrast with accelerating fleet growth, muted scrapping and Chinese stockbuilding that raises doubts over how long the rally could last.

MSI argued that much of this strength was driven by temporary stockbuilding and pointed out elevated inventories in China, combined with the usual Lunar New Year slowdown, were expected to weigh on imports in early 2026. Read more at Riviera.

When will the container orderbook get into gear?

While the containership orderbook has surged to over 33% of the total fleet, next to none of these vessels are geared ships, according to data analysis by MSI in its latest HORIZON Monthly Containership Report. Read more at Hellenic Shipping News.

Has the US ceded the race for clean fuels to China?

China-led hydrogen and ammonia regional exports will curb the development of longhaul trades and limit large carrier fleet growth, argues MSI decarbonisation analyst Mariam Tzannatos. Read more at Riviera.

War-distorted tanker boom faces reset

Disrupted crude flows, sanctions and floating storage sustained exceptional tanker earnings in late 2025.

Crude tanker earnings held near cycle highs in late November, even as analysts began to ask whether a prospective ’peace dividend’ in Ukraine could erode some of the structural support behind tonne-mile demand.

MSI’s latest HORIZON Monthly for oil tankers reported benchmark VLCC spot earnings averaged US$101,000/day in the first two weeks of November, up from US$78,000/day in October. Read more at Riviera.