Vessel deliveries come as idle fleet dwindles

Vessel deliveries come as idle fleet dwindles    July will set a record for the most capacity delivered in any one month, according to maritime news service Alphaliner.
   In its weekly update, Alphaliner said deliveries of several 10,000-TEU or larger ships this month will push more than 200,000 TEUs of capacity into the global fleet. It will also mean that capacity delivered through the first seven months of the year will near 1 million TEUs, or 7.3 percent of the current fleet. The news service estimates another 500,000 TEUs will be delivered in the remainder of the year.
   As to be expected, deliveries for some of Europe's heavy hitters have tilted the scales. Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM have taken delivery of a collective six vessels (two each) with capacity ranging from 11,356 TEUs to 13,798 TEUs. A further three post-Panamax (8,000-TEU or more) vessels have also been delivered thus far in July.
   Twelve more 10,000-TEU-plus ships are due for delivery in August and September.
   Yet all the added capacity has not induced carriers back into idling vessels, with the world's idle fleet falling to 2 percent. No vessels above 5,000-TEU capacities, and only 34 carrier-controlled ships are idled. That's down from a record 272 units in April 2009. Only Maersk, Hanjin and Zim have any appreciable idle tonnage on their hands.
   'At the beginning of January 2010, the idle fleet stood at 1.5 million TEUs, or 11.6 percent of the fleet at that time,' Alphaliner said. 'Over the last seven months, the idle fleet has dropped by a massive 1.2 million TEUs, or 9.5 percent of the fleet.'