The wave of ultra-large containerships (ULCs), which are assigned much of the blame for the current rate war among container carriers on the key trades between the Far East and North Europe, will pick up strength in the years to come and will continue into 2018.This development is evident from data published by analyst agency Alphaliner, which estimates that the carriers' continued deployment of ULCs will result in far-reaching consequences and add further to the overcapacity while also threatening the delicate balance between supply and demand.
So far a total of 37 new ULCS in the 13 8800-20 000 TEU range were deployed on the Asia-North Europe services in 2015, with another 13 set to enter the trades before the end of the year.
And this will also see containership cascading heading for a “potentially more destructive” phase, according to Drewry Maritime Research.
New ULCs would force a second wave of bigger ships moving into north-south lanes, it reported. This being a trade where most ports are just not capable of handling these fully laden, and where port development cash is in short supply in this global economic crisis. And, if the vessels have to ply only part-loaded, this will cause even more disastrous losses for the shipowners.
