At the recent Global Liner Shipping Conference, one of the main speakers explained that shipping is facing a new era and will never go back to the ‘good old days.’ The first ever decline in global container port volumes – about 10% – took place in 2009, after years of steady growth in the shipping market. He believes that markets in developed economies will continue to grow at a new, slower rate but that emerging markets have more potential for increasing freight volumes as their populations become wealthier.