Hold The Mayo

The 7-year-old has surfaced again.  Last week, upon two of his  Transformers falling into the trash compactor, he threw himself to the floor, screaming out "Mayonnaise, Mayonnaise!"  It took a little sleuthing to determine that he was meaning to  call "Mayday, Mayday!"

For those searching for signs and portents, it's easy to find cause for upset, if not outright panic.  In today's news, Moody's has downgraded its prognosis for the shipping industry, citing a growing imbalance in over-capacity for dry bulk, deterioration in the container segment, and slow recovery in tanker volume.  This on top of the bulletin indicating a 36% increase in marine piracy.

Sober reality is that the market will correct itself with respect to capacity and demand balances.  It'll just take longer than six months to get sorted out.  Can we please try a little harder to look slightly past the immediate horizon in thinking about what the future could really hold?

As to piracy, Somali and otherwise, that problem, too, will self-correct when the pain becomes sufficiently great.  Regrettably, the correction might be brutal and ugly.  But, the global transport community, and the governments involved, won't put up with this forever.

So, I'm not ready to jump up and holler "M'aidez, M'aidez!"  Not just yet.  It's a slippery slope, perhaps covered with mayonnaise.