Drewry: Idle containership fleet size has soared

The shipping research and consulting firm attributed November’s year-over-year increase in idled containership capacity to the Panama Canal’s new locks, which made smaller containerships less attractive, along with Hanjin’s bankruptcy.    The size of the idle containership fleet has doubled in the past year, from 238 ships with 900,000 TEUs of capacity in November 2015 to 435 ships with 1.7 million TEUs of capacity in November 2016, London-based shipping research and consulting firm Drewry said in its latest Container Insight Weekly newsletter.
   At one time in early 2015, the amount of idle capacity fell below 200,000 TEUs.
   The young age of ships being laid up “is a strong indication of the current over-capacity,” with 31 percent of these vessels below 5 years old, and 33 percent between 5 and 9 years old, according to Drewry.
   Companies that own ships and charter them to liner companies “will need to assess whether future demand for chartered tonnage justifies parking these idle assets (at an ongoing cost), or whether they should bite the bullet and scrap them,” Drewry said.
   The amount of idle capacity would be even higher if 550,000 to 600,000 TEUs of capacity had not been scrapped throughout 2016.
   Bankrupt Hanjin accounts for about 36 percent of idle capacity. Another reason for the surge has been the opening of the new locks in the Panama Canal, which has made some 3,000-5,000-TEU ships less attractive, because much larger and efficient ships can now utilize the waterway on many routes.
   In addition, some ships are being idled because of a seasonal downturn in business.