Cargo Ships Going into Mothballs

Thursday, November 13, 2008 11:54 AM

By: Julie Crawshaw

Just two years ago, ships literally lined up at sea, waiting to offload cargo at overrun ports around the world.

You would see them sitting off the beach in a row. Some took cargo thousands of miles around peninsulas to far-flung alternative ports because the lost time was more expensive than sitting at anchor for days.

Not anymore.

The Baltic Dry Index — the benchmark for commodity shipping costs — fell below 1,000 for the first time in six years as tight credit slowed global trade, Bloomberg reports.

The gauge has dropped 89 percent this year, driving down the combined market capitalization of the 12-company Bloomberg Dry Ships index to $5.5 billion from $32 billion a year ago.

“You are getting very, very close to the cost of just crewing and running a ship,â€