But even if the ice melts as fast as shippers hope (and scientists fear), navigation is likely to demand strengthened hulls, higher insurance and extra training for crews, all adding to the costs.
"It's a time to move away from long positions and bonds, and definitely to move away from housing investment, " said Russell, who suggested shippers such as UPS and FedEx could provide good opportunities.
Turnaround Letter Editor George Putnam features Genco in his July newsletter as one of several drybulk shippers whose stocks look attractively valued and could see sharp gains in share price if the economic growth accelerates or at least maintains its current pace.
The bombing of bridges across the Danube has hurt shippers in Romania and Bulgaria, as well as others farther north.
But worryingly for shippers, ransom demands may have risen as the number of captured ships falls.
Shippers will increasingly turn to alternatives, such as a rail link from California to Texas that is now the canal's chief competitor.
The shippers and freight forwarders of the world can do their part as well by standardizing forms and formats of the data they provide to customs organizations worldwide.
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As a continental trade port, admittedly, its future is dim: Chilean shippers say that they handle little traffic between Asia and Argentina or Brazil, and there has been only slow progress on building the road and rail links across the continent that could extend the hinterland of Chilean ports.
ECONOMIST: The APEC summit is a chance for Chile to prove itself
FedEx, UPS, DHL and other foreign express shippers are allowed to ship boxes within China and to handle outgoing shipments of boxes as well as letters.
Over the past month, drybulk shippers have watched the Baltic Dry Index fall from just under 1700 to just about 1100, as ship supply still far outweighs global demand.
"For example, supermarkets are going to be well stocked up with food for the period, but if there are failures among seed growers, manufacturers, shippers, packers and aircraft, there is the possibility of food supplies getting into some serious muddle as we go further into the new year, " he said.
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