Since the financial industry has taken such an active role in global economic affairs,
understanding global trade and transportation requires more than ever an insight into financial
issues and their impacts on transport operations. Paradoxically, this insight is weak in the
contemporary analysis of both maritime shipping networks and port economics. For instance,
the strategies of maritime shipping companies and of port operators and the sensitivity of
supply chains to cost variations are fairly well known processes that have helped understand
how maritime transport systems adapt to and shape changes. Yet, this perspective sheds
limited light on one of the fastest and most radical changes ever to affect the maritime and
port industries. Since the economic crisis that began in 2008 initially concerned the financial
sector, it is through the lenses of financial issues that its consequences on the maritime
industry are best understood. It can be seen as paradoxical that maritime transportation has
become highly intertwined with the financial sector while its main drivers are not mainly
financial, but macroeconomic issues.