Idle container ships - A warning sign.

A small observation I made while eating sea food on the east coast of Singapore was the number of idle container ships that are anchored off the coast of Singapore. I was reliably informed by those that I ate with that if you can see the pink underbelly of the ships; it indicated that they have no cargo and are likely idle. I saw a lot of pink. Infact every time I looked out to sea, no matter which coast I was on, I saw a lot of pink. This is surely a warning sign that the global economy is still sluggish and that the inventory re-build is nearing completion.

I have since shared e-mails with a friend in the shipping industry in Singapore who tells me that the industry is still not in a good shape. Make of it what you will, but to my mind it does not bode well.....