A steep rise in vessel orders risks bringing the recent bonanza in oil tanker shipping to an abrupt end, according to the latest edition of the Tanker Forecaster, published by shipping consultancy Drewry.Following recent modest growth, the oil tanker fleet is expected to reach new heights by 2016, climbing to 371 million dwt according to Drewry estimates. In 2014 fleet growth was flat, inching up just 0.6% as deliveries slumped 38% to 9.1 million dwt and demolitions remained high. But capacity expansion is gathering momentum and is expected to reach annual growth of over 4% in 2016, on the bac
As has always happened in the past, shipping’s new money sees no end to the boom and proceeds to order new ships to expand the size of the fleet. This ignores the fact that the boom profits only arose when the demand for shipping exceeded the supply of ships and itself was only a temporary imbalance.Thus the majority of new money has invested in ordering new ships, or taking over orders from companies already in default, or even buying non-performing debt from troubled banks. Despite the fact that several thousand new ships have delivered in the past 5 years, few have traded profitably if one
Now that the New Year, except in China, is with us it is time to focus on shipping’s future in the troubled waters of the Global Economy.Shipping has always been a vital ingredient in physical World Trade, but never more so with the evolution of the industrial economies of Asia and the search for minerals and other raw materials in Africa and South America. This all while the movement of energy products, oil and gas, continues to expand.Shipping is vital to all these activities as consumers and suppliers invariably live oceans apart. Yet despite its vitality and its unique ability to produce s
Shipping safety remains an ever present issue at the start of 2015 as industry regulators make louder calls to investigate a range of incident types and improve safety standards. According to the latest data from IHS (NYSE: IHS), a leading global provider of critical information and insight, a total of 1,639 maritime casualty incidents were reported during 2014, a 10 percent increase from 2013 when 1,489 incidents were reported.The chart below shows the numbers of incident types that has occurred for 2013 and 2014 across all incident categories worldwide.Notably, of all the casualty incident t
Another commodity that has seen massive growth in demand is milk powder, with the amount shipped from Europe to Asia tripling over the past three years, Maersk Line estimates show.As a result of this structural shift, the Danish line has more or less stopped carrying recyclable cargoes, according to Mr Sigsgaard.Wastepaper, for example, that once accounted for up to one-fifth of eastbound shipments, now represents less than 4%.Instead, Maersk is focusing its efforts on new customers emerging in this trade who are shipping more valuable goods and so in turn are prepared to pay higher freight ra
RAPIDLY expanding middle classes in Asia, with their greater spending power, are reshaping traditional trade patterns and forcing shipping lines to tear up the rule book.Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Asia-Europe trades, which for years have been dominated by the westbound leg, as Asian exporters fed the seemingly insatiable demand in Europe for clothing, footwear, the latest electronic gadgets and a vast range of other everyday merchandise.Cargo shipped on the backhaul route consisted largely of low-value commodities such as wastepaper, needed for packaging of the products being sh
Expect ships to get bigger in 2015 even as overcapacity persists, and this will also have implications for port congestion too. Freight rate volatility shows no sign of changing on the major trade lanes.4. RatesThere is little sign that freight-rate volatility will change on the major trade lanes in 2015 with no indication as yet that lines will change their marketing or sales ploys.With bigger vessels coming on stream, lines will be under pressure to make sure slots are filled and external factors such as congestion, sulphur surcharges and seasonal demand will mean that lines will look to gen
Expect ships to get bigger in 2015 even as overcapacity persists, and this will also have implications for port congestion too. Freight rate volatility shows no sign of changing on the major trade lanes. 1. Overcapacity The global containership industry has been blighted by overcapacity over the last few years and the problem looks set to continue in 2015. According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, more than 1.9m teu is set to be added to the global container fleet next year. This represents an increase in the total container fleet of 10% and many of these vessels will be in the larger size categ
Dynamar has issued the 12th edition of its annual Top 25 Container Liner Operators publication. It offers an exclusive insight into world’s largest container shipping companies, their histories, natures, characteristics, developments, strategies, relationships and performances.Cost reduction, in the form of ever-larger less fuel consuming and more efficient ships has been the answer of many of the Top 25 container liner operators to their constantly declining revenues. Under the stagnating markets, as it has been the case for a number of years now, the paradox is that this growing fleet of inc
In a bid to help ports become more competitive, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) recent report looks at mitigating negative port impacts and regaining their role as drivers of urban economic growth.While ports and cities are historically strongly linked, the OECD report says the link between port and city growth has become weaker.According to the report, one tonne of port throughput is on average associated with US$100 of economic value added, and an increase of one million tonnes of port throughput is associated with an increase in employment in the port of
With the presence of ever larger mega-ships and rising container volumes, US West Coast ports are being challenged to adopt a higher level of operational practice and invest in automated technology in order to keep pace with the supply chain.The Journal of Commerce reports Vice President of port planning firm Moffat and Nichol as stating: “San Pedro Bay terminals in their current operating mode are approaching their limits of capacity and service.“The current preferred operating mode cannot meet the challenges of the next phase, in my opinion, and significant change in terminal operation is re
1. There are currently over 17 million shipping containers in circulation globally with the number of active shipping containers at more then five million. In total, they make around 200 million trips a year, according to Billie Box.2. The first metal shipping container was invented by Malcolm McLean in 1956 in order to replace the old style of break-bulk container handling.3. Approximately 97% of all shipping containers are manufactured in China. This is due to a lower labour rate in the country and that much of the world’s products are produced in China.4. According to Grand View Container T
Dry bulk shipping is expected to continue its recovery, thanks to declining excess capacity, increasing iron ore shipments and rising grain trade, according to the latest edition of the Dry Bulk Forecaster, published by shipping consultancy Drewry.The dry bulk market rebounded in the third quarter thanks to the encouraging performance of the Capesize segment, which thrived on strong demand for iron ore from China and high production in Brazil. China’s hunger for imported ore led to a 25% increase in the Baltic Dry Index during the third quarter.However, the Ebola virus outbreak has reduced the
Mainlane container trade volumes are expected to grow by 8% on the peak leg Far East-Europe route and by 6% on the peak leg Transpacific route in full year 2014. Following a period of weaker growth these trades have shown strength since the second half of 2013 and in the year to date they have made an important contribution to global container trade which is now expected to grow by 6.1% in 2014.Rise And FallThe early to mid 2000s were prime years for the mainlanes with total trade growth across these routes regularly exceeding 10% y-o-y, amid a booming world economy and high levels of outsourc
Each year, in the first week of November, we invite readers of the Shipping Intelligence Weekly to predict the value of the ClarkSea Index one year ahead. The competition entries are always interesting, and give us an idea of what the shipping industry’s expectations of the market really are. However, as everyone knows, it’s hard to get it right and the competition can only have one winner…Stick Or TwistIn 2013, it felt like there was some consensus amongst industry players that the bottom of the cycle might have been reached and that markets would start to take a turn for the better. Shipowne