Global Trade Downturn

[Madzng]

This article is specifically about containerships, but I think it highlights what could happen to a lot of Maritime industries if the global downturn in trade continues.

As fuel prices have dropped the need to slow steam has become less necessary, but with over capacity, freight rates dropping and global recession companies are left with very little choice.

Anyone who has idle warfage or bouys in cold waters, to minimise hull fouling, could make themselves some easy money in the next few months.

Idle ships continue to gather up

Around 135 cellular ships totalling 300,000 teu are currently believed idle, according to the latest Alphaliner count (08 December), up from around 270,000 teu two weeks ago and 150,000 teu 1.5 month earlier.

They represent 2.5% of the existing cellular fleet in teu terms. Around 90 of these 135 ships are charter market ships awaiting an employment.

> 5,000-7,500 teu => 16 units
> 3,000-4,000 teu => 11 units
> 2,000-3,000 teu => 20 units
> 1,000-2,000 teu => 60 units
> 500-1,000 teu => 30 units

With the closure of further services announced for December-January, the idle ships figure will continue to rise progressively in the coming weeks, as ships will be put at anchor or in semi-lay up as they terminate their rotations.

The latest round of lay ups to come has been announced by Maersk Line. The Danish company is to lay up eight ships of the 6,500 teu class for a duration of 5 or 6 months, justifying this decision by the recently-announced changes in its Asia-Europe, Asia-Central America and Transpacific service networks. ''In view of the market conditions, we have reached the point where laying up the eight vessels makes better economical sense than redeploying them. Freight rates remain under severe pressure, and in several corridors the rates do not fully cover our variable costs. Rate improvements are imperative for the industry to create a sustainable environment'', says Michel Deleuran, Head of Network and Product in Maersk Line.

The eight vessels that Maersk Line will lay up are of the CV 65 class. Alphaliner identifies most of these ships as being the ones recently displaced from the Far East-Mexico-Centram AC-2 service by 8,200-9,600 teu ships, further to the merger of this service with the AC-1. The ships involved are enhanced 6,500 teu class ships with a nominal intake of 7,250 teu, four of which are already idle at Hong Kong and in Korea while two more are ending their rotations and will then probably be laid up. Besides, two 6,673 teu units are also concerned.

[JK]

I was looking at pictures of that huge cruise ship that is being built, that will carry over 6000 passengers.
The build price is somewhere around 700 million, completion 2009. Or 2015, depending when the financiers run out of money for it, I would say.
What a time for a ship like that to be completed, right in the midst of a global financial meltdown.