ABSTRACT
In the recent years economic growth was driven primarily by emerging developing countries and transition economies. It has proceeded, despite rising energy prices with their potential implications for transport costs and trade and despite growing global risks and uncertainties. There were many other factors determining increase in economic activity worldwide. Among them factors such as soaring non-oil commodity prices, the global credit crunch, a depreciation of the US dollar, and an unfolding food crisis should be count. The world economy and trade have, so far,
tendencies with sufficient
a world economy and conse-trade, the world merchant fleet expanded by 7.2 per cent during 2007 to 1.12 billion deadweight tons (dwt) at the beginning of 2008. It means that the world tonnage grew 1.5 times faster than the word merchandise trade in volume terms carried by sea. In 2007 historically high demand for shipping capacity was reached. The shipping industry responded to growing needs of the global supply chains by ordering new tonnage. It applied predominantly to the dry bulk vessels. All types of vessel orders were at their highest level ever, reaching over 10,000 ships with a total tonnage of almost 500 million dwt, including 222 million dwt of dry bulk carriers.4
