No, not Zorro (although that was one of the funniest movie lines I’ve ever heard, in an otherwise completely forgettable film), i’m talkin’ ’bout Zero Hedge’s use of Google Earth and a database to show the world’s shipping fleet idled (red = dead ship; green = going someplace):
The “Ghost Fleet” off Singapore above. Britain below:
Here’s the Chinese coast: note the clear channel, presumably for ships to go into port.
It was noted in the thread that since nobody’s done this before, there’s no baseline data for comparison. Still, combine this with the article and you’ve got some pretty clear evidence that world trade has collapsed.
Got something for your SHTF preps you’ve been putting off buying? Something you’d find in a retail store? Buy it now; restocking may take a lot longer than we’re all used to.
I saw an article about this at Billy Beck’s place. Apparently charter costs are currently ten percent of what they used to be, the carriers are hurting so bad.
The good news is that the vast majority of the idled ships are just that – idle. They are not mothballed, not lined up for salvage, not headed to scrap yards.
So if or when they are needed, it is a simple thing to refill the oil bunkers and get the crew aboard, and head into port for their load of cargo containers heading to the US.
Cheap transport is a good thing to have when trying to get out of a big economic downturn.