Report: Global boxship fleet to grow 30% in 2005-06

Report: Global boxship fleet to grow 30% in 2005-06    A new report published by shipping research firm Alphaliner says the global fleet of containerships will expand 30 percent from Jan. 1, 2005 to Jan. 1, 2007, as much of the substantial backlog of vessel orders for new ships starts to enter the market.
   In its April forecast of the cellular container fleet, Paris-based Alphaliner calculated the global fleet will grow 13.5 percent this year to 8.3 million TEUs, and another 14.7 percent in 2006 to 9.5 million TEUs.
   The global fleet would also top 10 million TEUs for the first time during 2007. Based on current orders, it will reach 10.8 million TEUs on Jan. 1, 2008, up 13.4 percent from the worldwide fleet total as of January 2007.
   The prospect of three consecutive years of 13-14-percent increases in global ship capacity could have serious consequences for the container shipping market if cargo demand does not keep pace.
   The research report highlights in particular that the delivery of new vessels will be biased towards ships of more than 4,000-TEU capacities, a trend that suggest the east/west trades will see a faster-than-average increase in ship capacity. This year, 69 percent of the total 987,365 TEUs capacity from new ship deliveries will come from vessels that are 4,000-TEU or larger in size, according to the report. In 2006, the proportion will be 70 percent of the expected total of 1.2 million TEUs.
   Alphaliner expects 115 new of 4,000 TEUs or more to be delivered this year, another 130 such ships to be delivered in 2006, and a further 138 to join the market in 2007.