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 Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and further through the Black Sea to Europe. The TITR is a multimodal route that involves two modes of transport: rail and sea.