Shipping enters the 2020s with a sense of ­positive anticipation rarely seen since the ­financial crash. For the first time in more than a decade, most players and observers agree the market outlook is broadly positive for the major sectors.

Slower operating speeds have ­incrementally narrowed the supply-demand balance in shipowners’ favour, and the newbuilding orderbook continues to shrink.

TradeWinds Editor-in-Chief Julian Bray Photo: Fiona Compton

Yet that is not to say the outlook is blindly ­optimistic.