Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry increased in the three months ended May 2012, to reach their highest level since February 2011, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from leading accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens. This is the fourth successive quarter in which there has been an improvement in confidence, leading to an increased expectation of new investment on the part of respondents, despite an anticipated increase in the cost of finance over the next twelve months.

In May 2012, the average confidence level expressed by respondents in the markets in which they operate was 5.7 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), compared to the figure of 5.5 recorded in the previous survey in February 2012, and to the 5.6 recorded one year previously, in May 2011. The survey was launched in May 2008 with a confidence rating of 6.8.

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