Yards must delay builds
4 @+ D; w) m4 _6 A SHIPYARDS are not to blame for the catastrophic market conditions that are hammering the container trades — or least, not much. But they are part of the solution.
. b& h( E$ s) l' cUnless something is done to curb fleet expansion, what is already the deepest slump in the 50-year history of containerisation will get very much worse. Over the next few weeks, Asian yards will come under enormous pressure to postpone production schedules. In particular, the big South Korean shipbuilders will be asked to delay delivery of the 12,000-14,000 teu boxships they have on their orderbooks. Some owners will use charm to persuade yards to defer completions. Others will bully. But the message will be the same. Unless the yards do something to help out their customers, they can forget any more orders for 2013 delivery and beyond. Even if freight demand recovers in two or three years’ time, lines will not need to go to the yards for additional tonnage. They will simply pull ships out of lay-up. The number of idle containerships is already at a record high, with almost 6% of fleet capacity out of action and much more heading to anchorages. With deliveries of the next generation of containerships only just starting, both owners and operators are facing a disastrous future. Some will not survive. With legally tight order contracts, the yards so far are resisting pressure to renegotiate terms. But why work flat out between now and 2012 to complete a record number of containerships over the next four years, only to see work dry up completely after that? That is the message that owners and operators will be conveying to the yards in meetings in the coming weeks. If yards think they will be able to offset zero boxship orders with other ship types beyond 2012, they need to think again. This is an industry-wide crisis that requires creative thinking, and the shipyards can provide some much-needed breathing space by slowing down production. |
发表于 2009-1-21 10:41:45
