Damoon Razmjooei۱ - ۱Lecturer; Department of maritime Management; Faculty of Maritime Economic and Management Khoramshar University of marine science & Technology

Southeast Asian countries played very crucial role in the intra-Asian container transport. Although the Asia crisis triggered a deep industrial recession in Southeast Asian region, but the recovery has been almost as fast as its decline In this paper, the economic overview which includes 2 main drives of the Southeast Asian trade will be explored. The size and route as well as the carrier of the Southeast Asian container trade will be introduced. Furthermore, the pressure for the port development and challenge for profitability of the carrier in this area will be summarized. At last, the prospect for the container trade development in Southeast Asian will also be given. Based on the freight rates and GDP growth it will be concluded that there would be a very attractive investment opportunity for owners of smaller vessels (less than 2000 TEU capacity) at least until 2015

Container trades, south East Asian countries, Strengths & Weaknesses