Container ship order book beginning to fill up

After two and a quarter years
in the doldrums, the order book
for containerships again had a
following wind in October.
Since the order book peaked
at 6.89-million TEUs equivalent
in August 2008, it has been
in continuous decline due to
a combination of poor market
sentiment and a lack of access to
funding. This situation only started
to change in June, as the recovery
in the freight markets prompted
carriers and some non-operating
owners to return to the yards.
After that 27 consecutive
months of decline, orders in
October rose for the first time –
pushing up the total on order to
3.79-million TEUs capacity, or the
equivalent of 26.6% of the fleet,
on November 1.
And orders actually outpaced
deliveries. The figure for October
newbuild deliveries was 20 ships
totalling 92 000-TEUs – the lowest
monthly figure since February.
Even lower delivery figures are
expected throughout the fourth
quarter, coinciding with the slower
northern hemisphere winter
period. Meanwhile, new contracts
reported in October reached a total
of 131 000-TEUs – and further
containership orders are expected
to be placed before the end of the
year.
There is significant latent
demand for new ships, according
to French shipping analysts,
Alphaliner, as owners rush to
place new vessel orders after
having shied away from the yards
for almost two years.
“Although the orderbook will
not return to the heady levels of
2007 when it reached a peak of
64% of the fleet,” its monthly
monitor said, “its size is expected
to remain in the 25%-30% range
next year, if present interest levels
are maintained.”