Drewry: Breakbulk reefer trade slipping

Drewry: Breakbulk reefer trade slipping    Drewry Shipping Consultants said “the future looks precarious” for specialized reefer ships as container fleets continue to gain a bigger share of the market for moving chilled and frozen cargo.
   In comments giving highlights from its annual study of refrigerated shipping, Drewry said it expects the container shipping industry to see its share of reefer trade grow from 56 percent in 2008 to 71 percent by 2015
   “The trade growth forecast last year has been stunted by the economic conditions affecting all shipping sectors. However, Drewry foresees a return to growth during 2010 for reefer trade overall with reefer containers increasingly taking the lion's share,” the company said. The company said perishable reefer trade stood at 156 million tons in 2008, an increase of 43 million tons from 2000 with seaborne accounting for 77 million tons, up from 57 million for 2000.
   Drewry noted there are now 4,600 containership capable of carrying refrigerated containers compared to 763 specialized breakbulk reefer ships. It predicted the specialized reefer fleet would drop to between 458 and 635 vessels by January 2015, depending on whether ships are scrapped at 30 or 35 years.