• BREAKBULK & PROJECT CARGO
  • April 24-26, 2024 | Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Louisiana

Peter Tirschwell

S&P Global

Vice President-Shipping Intelligence

Peter Tirschwell is Vice President within the Maritime & Trade business of S&P Global Market Intelligence, which provides a range of data and analytics and intelligence capabilities. In his role he is responsible for all content appearing in JOC publications, websites, events and other products. A career shipping and transportation journalist, Peter was a reporter, West Coast Bureau Chief, Editor in Chief and Publisher of The Journal of Commerce in his 25+ year career with the company beginning in 1992. He is the founder and chairman of the annual TPM conference in Long Beach, Calif., the world's largest container shipping conference. He writes a regular column in The Journal of Commerce print magazine and website covering a range of international logistics topics. He speaks regularly at industry events and has been quoted in mainstream business media including the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and The New York Times. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Sessions With Peter Tirschwell

Thursday, 20 April

  • 09:30am - 10:00am (CST) / 20/apr/2023 02:30 pm - 20/apr/2023 03:00 pm

    Spillover No More: What Today's Container Shipping Market Means for Breakbulk Logistics

    Does the dramatic collapse in container spot rates during the second half of 2022 signal a return to the pre-pandemic status quo, or has the market shifted in more fundamental ways? Carriers’ claims that operating costs are up and must be passed on to customers will trigger déjà vu on the shipper side, even as these shippers used the second half of last year to press for revisions to contracts negotiated during a much tighter market. Flush with pandemic market cash, carriers have diversified into a range of logistics services and other businesses and, at least in the run-up to the pandemic, became skillful at managing capacity — but they still must earn their living moving cargo. What can shippers expect as 2023 unfolds and, most importantly for breakbulk shippers, what are the implications for a multipurpose sector that flourished — after a painful, decade-plus recession — in the pandemic spillover market? Have all spillover cargoes by this point returned to container ships, or are shippers continuing to diversify their shipping modes as a longer-term risk-management strategy? Will cargo-hungry container carriers chase breakbulk cargoes even more aggressively? Peter Tirschwell, vice president of S&P Global Market Intelligence, will share his container market perspective and outlook before being joined by Journal of Commerce research analyst Susan Oatway to discuss the likely knock-on effects that the much-larger container market may have in store for the multipurpose side.

Friday, 21 April

  • 11:00am - 11:45am (CST) / 21/apr/2023 04:00 pm - 21/apr/2023 04:45 pm

    Who's on First: Choosing Low- or No-Carbon Fuels and Ship Designs Across a Varied Global Fleet

    What will the green fuel of the future be? Will there be one fuel for all, or a number of potential solutions? How will ports adapt, and what do ship owners and operators need to plan for when it comes to emissions regulations and other aspects of sustainability? The multipurpose sector is a small niche and will follow rather than lead when it comes to green fuel — but not every option makes sense for this fleet. Multipurpose vessel operators, which trade in the most remote corners of the globe, expect to hedge their bets with fossil fuel for some time. Multimillion-dollar newbuilding decisions can't be made quickly, especially in the face of an increasingly complex regulatory environment, evolving commercial realities, and a segment wary of over-investment. Led by Peter Tirschwell, vice president of S&P Global Market Intelligence, this panel of carrier, port, and classification society executives will examine the choices global carriers face, with a focus on the fate of the MPV/heavy-lift fleet.  

  • 02:45pm - 03:30pm (CST) / 21/apr/2023 07:45 pm - 21/apr/2023 08:30 pm

    A Brave New World Ahead: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?
    After two years of an almost unrecognizable, pandemic-driven shipping market defined by unprecedented congestion, busted liner schedules, and a surge of spillover cargo that sopped up breakbulk and project cargo capacity in an unprecedented way, the breakbulk supply chain is now navigating much calmer seas. However, business assumptions taken for granted in the past — an ever-available pool of spot MPV tonnage, for example, or consistently reliable liner shipping — must be revisited in today’s brave new world of shipping. Shippers must rethink global sourcing; MPV/heavy-lift carriers warn of a looming capacity shortage; geopolitical and governmental policies and the global push toward sustainability are influencing decision-making in ways that simply didn’t exist a handful of years ago. This closing session, moderated by Peter Tirschwell, vice president of S&P Global Market Intelligence will explore what supply chain decision-making looks like in 2023; the top-of-mind issues for breakbulk and project cargo stakeholders; and the industry changes on the horizon.
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