Specialised reefer sector stages recovery

RAY SMUTS WHEREAS SHIP yards are at pressure to turn out hundreds of new container ships, orders for specialised reefer vessels are non-existent. But even so the reefer sector is on the up and up, says Trevor Law, general manager of LauritzenCool Southern Africa. Assessing the current state of the global SRS (specialised reefer sector), Law says that for the past five to six years the market has been in a downslide from which owners are only just recovering. “Their confidence is still fragile despite all the positive market indicators, but they need to see higher freight and time charter rates on their ships before being willing to jump back into new buildings.” Law says world demand for steel has led to the scrapping of approximately 21 ageing reefer vessels during the first six months of this year, which has placed additional pressure on the remaining 1 000-strong fleet of which about half are pallet-friendly. He makes clear that even if SRS operators are keen to acquire new ships they will have to make do with what they have until the end of 2007 as yards will have their hands full with container vessels until then. Despite rumours that some SRS contracts will be placed with yards later this year, one consequence of the lack of newbuildings has been the positive impact of services on offer by the sector, prices for one. By way of example, the demand for shipping dry bulk cargo - steel, fish meal, sugar, cars and the like - on reefer ships has increased significantly of late. “In a nutshell, the SRS is looking up but efficiency in the overall logistics chain will be the watchword. as greater efficiency translates to cost reduction which can be transferred all the way down the logistics chain.” This year LauritzenCool engaged in a vessel sharing arrangement with Seatrade Reefers between South Africa and the UK-northwest Continent. It will undertake around 110 sailings, handling more than 350 000 pallets of export fruit.