Idle fleet back to January 2009 levels

Idle fleet back to January 2009 levels    The idle containership fleet continues to plummet, to a 15-month low of 5.3 percent, according to the latest research by maritime news service Alphaliner.
   Roughly 192,000 TEUs of capacity have been absorbed by the market within the last two weeks, Alphaliner said, and the idle fleet now stands at 715,000 TEUs.
   Perhaps most significantly, the rate of idled capacity controlled by non-operating owners dropped faster than that controlled by steamship lines. That signals carriers are beginning again to charter vessels for new or restored services.
   'The declining idle fleet should give a boost to charter rates in the short term due to the reduced availability of suitable tonnage needed for deployment in new services,' Alphaliner said.