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Fuel costs will be one of the major concerns for the North American shipping market in 2011, according to Philip Bannerman, Sales Director for Wilhelmsen Ships Service in the Americas.

Bannerman believes the concerns and challenges for the traditional shipping sector in North America echo the global conditions, namely fuel costs, oversupply of tonnage, regulatory pressure and liquidity.

"There are major concerns currently, over fuel prices combined with the financial and operational impact of new regulations," said Bannerman. "2011 is likely to be a tough year for many of our customers, and we see opportunities to improve their operational efficiency by using our global network and wide portfolio of products and services," he added.

Bannerman, who is based at the company's Houston, Texas office, also believes that Mexico has more potential for development. Commenting on the overall health of the ships agency business in North America, he said: "The traditional shipping market is perhaps more ‘mature' than in other parts of the world, but the ever growing demand for energy continues to open up business opportunities for all our business streams. We see increased activity from the offshore segment and traders and charterers. In addition, the supply of agency and logistics services to the cruise sector is likely to increase as the industry continues its geographical expansion.

"Our main investment focus is on sales resource with the right competence to target the market segments we expect to grow," Bannerman said.

Focusing in more detail on the cruise sector, Bannerman observed that the industry has weathered the global recession very well. "Bookings are strong and ticket prices are rising," he said. "The cruise industry is continuing to expand in Europe and into new markets such as the Far East and South America."

"While the shape of the shipping industry in North America is fairly stable, we are expecting more global demand for our services from our cruise and offshore customers," added Bannerman.