The
fleet of idled container ships is edging higher with more than 200 unemployed
vessels above 3,000 20-foot-equivalent units, according to Alphaliner.
The
idled container ship capacity remains at an “alarmingly high” level of 1.48
million TEUs, equivalent to 7.4 percent of the global fleet, as demand shows no
sign of picking up, the industry analyst said.
Demand
for charter ships, which is usually strengthening at this time of the year, has
been faltering in the past weeks, “dashing hopes of seeing overcapacity
decrease in the foreseeable future.”
There
were 325 jobless ships above 500 TEUs as of April 4, just three more than two
weeks earlier, but the increasing size of idled vessels is boosting the
unemployment rate in capacity terms.
The
six-year high of 346 idled ships in late February had a combined capacity of
1.43 million TEUs, accounting for 7.1 percent of the global fleet.
The
unemployment pool includes 91 ships of 3,000 TEUs to 5,099 TEUs, 54 of 5,100
TEUs to 7,499 TEUs and 55 of 7,500 TEUs and more.
The
“unprecedented” number of ships of more than 3,000 TEUs without work is
prompting owners to consider scrapping relatively young tonnage, Alphaliner
notes.
Six
5,400 TEUs to 6,500 TEUs ships have already been broken up this year, including
the 15-year-old, 6,479-TEU DS Kingdom, the largest-ever container vessel sold
for demolition. The ship, which had been laid up in Asia since mid-November, is
also among the youngest container vessels to be scrapped.
Four
sister ships, all built in 2011, have been idled for between four and nine
months as a result of “the disastrous charter market for over-Panamax tonnage,
which is crippled by unprecedented oversupply.”
A
further 10 Panamax units of 3,300 TEUs to 4,800 TEUs have also been scrapped
since the beginning of the year and prospects for this size of ship remain
“grim” in the run up to the opening of the new Panama Canal locks in June.
With
130,000 TEUs already sold for demolition in the first quarter of the year,
Alphaliner said 2016 could be a record year for scrapping.
Source:
joc.com. 14 April 2016
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