Week #1 Assignment Meli Marine Case Study Jess F. The attractiveness of the container shipping industry is influenced by many factors and it’s important for carriers to have clear strategies and a distinct position in the market. Some of these factors are positive while others create hesitation for companies to enter or expand within this industry. A key feature which once added to the appeal of this industry was the demand for international shipping. Five years ago when most industries shrunk during the financial crisis of 2008, the container shipping industry, particularly international shipping, experienced growth. However, when the financial crisis finally caught up with the shipping industry, combined with other factors, we saw a significant decline in this growth. Combined with economic factors like increasing fuel prices or capital costs associated with operating and maintaining technology advances, and political forces requiring shipping companies to be mindful of the affects their ships have on ocean waters, this once appealing industry has now lost its allure. Despite this recent lack of appeal, the industry still does have some positive features which can attract businesses. Since global commerce trade is primarily dependent upon trans-ocean shipping, and within the container shipping supply chain there are several segments to integrate or expand your business, it creates opportunities for these companies to grow or enter the market. We can also look at Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model and create a Competitive Analysis Checklist (see appendix 1) to evaluate the attractiveness of this industry. We see that of the five forces, the container shipping industry obtains three forces which take away from the attractiveness of the industry; high threat of entry, high power of buyers, and high rivalry amongst existing competitors. The threat of entry is rather