Capacity will start to catch up with demand around the same time, which means that shippers will likely see rates start to soften.

One industry veteran remarked, "Our view is that 2006 is probably going to be the first challenging year for the industry."

At the same time, China remains the wild card. With more production continuing to move there and the elimination of textile quotas in a few weeks, the outcome on shipping capacity and rates is still somewhat unpredictable.