Shipping and shipbuilding underwent a series of major changes in the first decades after World War II. Growth in world trade, with corresponding increases in the demand for shipping services and technological improvements, laid the foundation for a drastic transformation of the shipping market. The movement towards increased globalisation that began in the nineteenth century was interrupted in the internar period. Seaborne trade increased only slightly, and it was primarily the rapid growth in the petroleum trade that prevented an overall reduction. During most of the 1930s the world fleet declined due to the scrapping of obsolete tonnage and limited reinvestment. But growth resumed after 1945, and technological innovations in shipping and shipbuilding enabled shipowners to benefit from the improved conditions.

Strong growth and structural changes paved the way for the transformation of the world fleet. Both its structure and the vessels themselves reflected growth and new opportunities. One prominent shift was the increasing significance of the oil trade, with liquid bulk transports becoming the dominant segment of the shipping industry. Moreover, the period from 1950 to the early 1970s was marked by the first stage of the containerisation of the liner trades and the breakthrough of bulk shipping into a number of new cargoes. The result was increased specialisation and reduced linkages between the various shipping sectors. The maritime economist Martin Stopford has written that:

The demand for transport services is closely related to the level of world trade. The first quarter-century after the end of the World War II was characterised by strong growth in international trade. Economic growth was strong in most Western nations in the initial decades after 1945. Yet a characteristic feature of international economic development was that world trade grew even faster than production. While global production trebled from 1953 to 1973, the volume of international trade grew by 350 percent.