Alphaliner: Containership deliveries to surge

Alphaliner: Containership deliveries to surge    Information service Alphaliner said Monday the pace of new containership deliveries will quicken in the second quarter.
   After adding 307,000 TEUs of capacity in the first quarter, new ships are expected to increase the world fleet by 430,000 TEUs in the second quarter. For all of 2010, Alphaliner forecasts delivery of 295 ships adding 1.5 million TEUs in capacity.
   After accounting for scrapping and “slippage” — delayed delivery of ships — Alphaliner expects worldwide container capacity to reach 14.3 million TEUs by the end of the year, 9.6 percent more than in 2010.
   The company said in its weekly newsletter: “container trade growth in 2010 could turn out to be much stronger than expected and will likely exceed 10 percent, following a 10 percent contraction in 2009.”