Drewry: Ship operating costs to fall in 2009-10

Drewry: Ship operating costs to fall in 2009-10    Drewry Shipping Consultants has forecast that daily operating costs for nine types of cargo vessels will drop 3.4 percent this year, an unusual respite for ship owners that is not likely to last long.
   The report, Ship Operating Costs 2009-10, pointed to a decline in manning costs, insurance premiums and lube costs as oil prices receded.
   'This will undoubtedly help ship owners but the respite could be temporary,' Drewry said. 'Change is on the near horizon.'
   The consultant predicts that manning costs will remain stable and that repair and maintenance cost will fall in the short term. Drewry also suggested that owners who have previously used third parties for ship management bring those responsibilities in-house. As for insurance, the company said it is 'a difficult area to predict.'
   'What is important to realize in all this is that recession for many shipping business managers is a new phenomenon,' said Nigel Gardiner, Drewry managing director. 'For the last few years all they have known is cost increases but these have been more than covered by continuous and robust rate increases.
   'All this has changed; the upward pressure on costs has been halted, if not reversed. We believe that this only a brief respite. Cost inflation will return, and we forecast it will hit 4.5 percent in 2012. The big unknown at the moment is the timing of recovery and when economic stimulus packages will kick in. Owners and managers need to be ready to deal with cost inflation or run the risk of costs spiraling out of control.'