If you’re a shipping company that uses a Chinese leasing structure to finance your fleet but otherwise has no ties to China, what are you to do under the U.S. Trade Representative’s proposed measures?

Savvy shipowners could participate in both the SHIPS for America Act and Title XI to bring the effective cost of building ships in the U.S. down considerably.

In shipping, volatility isn’t noise—it’s opportunity. And in flat markets, even the sharpest traders can struggle to make the math work in their favor.

With two fewer public shipping companies under Fredriksen’s control in a matter of months, speculation is growing. At 80 years old, is JF—the man known simply by his initials—strategically unwinding one of the most remarkable single-generation shipping empires ever built?

Just as inflation in everyday goods can persist when consumers have more disposable income, ship prices can remain elevated when their natural buyers—shipowners—are flush with cash.