The article deals with forecasting crisis phenomena in marine container transportations, and provides recommendations for short-and medium-term planning of activity of shipping companies in the sphere of container transport, focusing on economic performance. Prediction of crisis phenomena is timely and actual problem nowadays in maritime container transport. Prediction of the crisis based on the investigation of the potential threats. Therefore it is necessary first of all to organize the process of obtaining reliable information of potential threats. Usually, this information often incomplete, fragmented. Nevertheless, it may be the first weak signals about the likelihood of a particular danger. For the analysis of weak signals need to understand the theoretical aspect of the potential threats, such as the cyclical crises occurred. The article considers the options escalating the threat to a crisis situation, "Wave", "Recession", "Lifting" and also arranged recommendations for short-and medium-term planning of shipping companies in the sphere of container transport, focusing on economic performance. Due to the unstable situation on the market, the wording of the main priorities of industry development, mechanisms for achieving the goals and their priority will allow to deduce the services provided by shipping lines, to a new level. Companies need to provide internationally competitive freight rates and provide good services in the short, medium and long terms periods and develop best practices based on professional management system in the sphere of transportations. Thus arise needs for predicting the crisis phenomena in order to avoid losses and rapid development, operations and management at the international level.