Well, this sure gives a face to all the shipping collapse stories we've been reading. It's mazing, the ghost fleet off Singapore alone is larger than the US an British navies combined...

Unused tankers, cargo ships, and support vessels :

Heck, if no one's using them, I'll take a couple. I'll live out at sea and become a fisherwoman.

I posted this first, on Sept 13th, on US Economy Could Recover Much Sooner Than Expected, page 71.

Day late and a dollar short here.

I am not sure this is a bad sign, it shows me people are finally consuming less as we always should have been doing, its been a false economy here in America for at least the past 8 years due to housing prices soaring and people cashing out there equity and maxing out credit cards.

I know the investors with there money tied up in these tankers are in a sad shape but thats the name of the game.

This also shows us how much Americas over consumption as propped up lots of other countries, such as China and others,, for you American/capitalist haters on this site are sure up for rude awaking when we finally collapse, you might start jumping for joy but a minute later your country/job will be no more..

You don't need to go all the way to Singapore for evidence of this.

I imagine around every major city there is a container farm. There is one in Chicago not too far from Midway Airport. It's about 10 acres, stacked about 7 deep with empty shipping containers. There's a smaller one near me, only a couple of acres, stacked about four deep.

I suppose it's nice business if you can get it, if you have the room. Charge somebody rent on your farm for these containers? Better than growing soybeans.

As for these ships, I suppose there is an excess of sea captains right now....How will they feed their parrots, and do proper upkeep on their peg legs?

day late and a dollar short, Timmy. Africa cornered this market years ago (Darfur comes to mind).

This is incredible - the scale of the "aramada" is huge! Can't get my head around it.

Man that is pretty trippy!

I heard or saw somewhere that paper refuse that used to be shipped back to China to be recycled into shipping boxed is stacking up on this side of the ocean.

Insulation for those new container condos I guess.

That's incredible. The ships being built are a real problem as well. I wonder what they will be used for.

In England they used the hulks as prison ships. I wonder if they will think of that.

Debtors prisons.

Actually as one who has flown into and out of Singapore 12 times since August 08 the 'Armada' has shrunk by 2/3rds since April this year. It is not far above the old normal, less than double.
Ask Iowem; he lives there.

so, has shipping resumed at prior levels then?

Did I say that?
No and it won't.
In April is was in shocking decline.
Now a slow demise.

I run my scooter down the Mississippi to lake Pepin (next to major rail lines). A few years ago, every 15 min a frieght train would whoosh by, now I see maybe one train in my entire trip.

The Singapore harbour always looks like that, it is one of the busiest in the world, and that picture is nothing. Last year it definitely looked like a parking lot and you could almost literally jump from ship to ship and walk across the harbour.

As well in that picture, 90% of those ships are coastal freighters that have nothing to do with international trade.