Ron Smith: Slow steaming and perishable trade

Weekend stories concerning a progressive slow-down in the effective operating speed of container ships from New Zealand suggest a growing problem for our exporters of perishable goods, such as chilled lamb or kiwifruit. Not surprisingly, the overall driver of the problem from a shipping company point of view is profitability, which is currently under stress, but the principle factor appears to be rising fuel costs, perhaps exacerbated by increasing sensitivities about global warming (however ill-founded these latter concerns may be).