The half-year health check on the state of the maritime markets finds shipowners in a better place than they anticipated 12 months ago. While tankers will have to wait for a meaningful vaccine-led recovery, box and bulk are booming.

The Eurasian landbridge has contributed to increased sustainable connectivity between the EU and China during the decade of the 2010s. Felicitously, this market-driven development preceded, and also complemented, major foreign economic policy announcements by China and the EU and reinforces their goal of increased connectivity. The resulting connectivity is likely to survive any bilateral political debacles because the economic foundation is strong