No Order for Container Ship
These days, the former Global shipping operators are placing no order for container carriers amid a supply glut and this is adding to the difficulties of shipbuilding companies. These days, the former are focusing on M&A rather than the procurement of new ships. Examples of those include AP Moller-Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, the largest, second-largest and sixth-largest in the global shipping industry, respectively.
According to Clarkson Research, the global container supply and demand index dropped from 89 to 80.7 between 2011 and last year. In the index, 100 is the point of balance and a value lower than that means that ship supply exceeds the total freight volume.
“In the case of a deterioration of financial structures of shipping companies, shippers will refuse to load cargoes and terminals and loading and unloading companies will refuse to provide their services,” said an industry source, adding, “In the wake of the receivership of Hanjin Shipping, the global shipping industry is likely to be reorganized by industry leaders and, as such, growth strategies concentrating on M&A is inevitable.”
Under the circumstances, shipbuilding companies are expressing concerns. The number of orders for new ships has already declined to a significant extent compared to last year. According to Clarkson Research, the number of container ship orders totaled 91 (1.614 million TEU) in 2015 but dropped to merely five (70,000 TEU) until this month in 2016.