Lloyds: Containership owners? outlook “grim”

Lloyds: Containership ownersÆ outlook “grim”

Lloyds: Containership owners' outlook “grim”

   The global containership fleet, which stands at 4,671 ships with a total capacity of 12.4 million TEUs, is expected to grow 13 percent in 2009, as new ships ordered during the boom years are delivered to their owners.
   The growth rate will slow to 9.3 percent annually through 2013, said Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay Research (LRF), announcing a new research report. The company said growth in capacity will be highest for very large ships bigger than 8,000-TEU capacity, with “staggering average growth rate of 25 percent through 2013.”
   “By any measure, the current picture for containership operators is grim, caused by the severe imbalance in supply and demand under the sluggish economic conditions worldwide. Spot rates of as low as $250 to move a container from Hong Kong to Rotterdam are being quoted by some lines. That compares with $1,400 a year ago,” the company said. “While most larger fleet owners have amassed sufficient reserves from the boom years to survive the crunch, some smaller lines have already succumbed,” it noted.
   LRF estimates ships representing a record 1 million TEUs are in layup.
   The information service AXS Alphaliner says its most recent tally found 521 containerships in layup. It said about 4 percent of the world containership capacity was from actual liner companies. Alphaliner said the number of ships in layup by liner companies has actually declined in recent months, from a peak of 241 units with 1.04 million TEU in capacity in March to 199 units with 790,000 TEU in capacity currently.
   But an even bigger share of containership capacity — 322 ships with 6.2 percent of the world TEU capacity — belong to non-operating owners who depend on liner companies to charter their ships.