#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Container Market: Demolitions to hit new record in 2014 - A record number of container ships are set to be scrapped this year, as reported demolitions in the first four months of the year reached 212,000 twenty equivalent units (TEU), up 27% year-on-year.

Shipping Industry: Private equity funding could threaten recovery - The rise of private equity funding in the shipping industry, which has seen billions of dollars invested in new vessel orders, threatens to cut short the sectors emergence from its worst downturn since the 1980's, Reuters have reported.

Technology: Radio navigation solution to satellite blackouts -Europe has yet to come to terms with the danger that satellite blackouts and signal jamming present for the maritime industry, Reuters reported last week.

Presently, the industry relies on satellite-based GPS and GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) for time and positioning. However, the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland (GLA) have pioneered a radio-based back-up system, called eLoran, which would continue to provide users with the correct time and vessel position in the event of a loss of satellite signal due to solar weather effects, interference or even intentional jamming of satellites.

Irish Economy: Trade surplus at six-year low - March's preliminary figures from the CSO indicate the trade surplus fell by €732m to €2.4bn, the lowest seasonally adjusted surplus since July 2008. Seasonally adjusted exports fell 4% (€256m) to €6.9bn from February while seasonally adjusted imports rose 12% (€437m) to €4.5bn in what analysts described as disappointing data.

Comparing March year-on-year, the value of exports decreased by €524million (-6%) to €7.56bn with the main drivers being organic chemicals decreasing 16% and medical and pharmaceutical products falling 10%.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the PDF downloadable IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 20). In addition to coverage on Afloat.ie's dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.