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The world’s largest ship broker admitted its business has been battered by weak global trade – underlining the crisis engulfing the shipping industry.

Container carriers that belong to the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association trade group and six ports have announced the first united approach to meeting new international freight weight requirements that take effect July 1.

COPENHAGEN — Container shipping firms' annual costs have risen by a total $500 million due to new sulfur emissions regulations that have forced vessels to use higher-cost fuel, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a May 19 report.

BEIJING — China will encourage ships flying its flag to take the Northwest Passage via the Arctic Ocean, a route opened up by global warming, to cut travel times between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a state-run newspaper reported April 20.

Singapore Exchange is seeking to buy Baltic Exchange, the 272-year-old London-based provider of information on global shipping costs.

The shipping industry’s most-watched measure of rates for hauling commodities plunged to a fresh record amid a persisting glut of ships and speculation weakening Chinese steel output could translate into declining imports of iron ore to make the alloy.

The holiday shipping season is in overdrive now, with the next two Mondays expected to be among the busiest of the year.

The early holiday shipping season featured more online purchases, which could help to ensure smooth package delivery flow, experts said.

There is nothing glamorous about shipping containers. Their existence generally is one of sheer duty, hauling cargo from one point to another.

China could be creating Asia’s biggest container shipping company through a merger of two titans. But the plan doesn’t address the central issue confronting the industry for at least five years now: too many ships, with too much cargo space, plying the seas.