Clarkson Research head Martin Stopford said the coming decade, he told an audience at shipping accountant Moore Stephens in London, will be about keeping costs down.
“This is going to be a cost decade not a revenue decade,” said the executive.
Stopford said three factors lay behind his assertion. Shipbuilding overcapacity is “substantial”. It’s a question of the industry managing that overhang effectively, said Stopford.
Coupled to constant oversupply, is the rising oil price. Ships were built to run on $150 a tonne bunkers but heavy fuel oil is now four times that price. “The industry needs to get to grips with that,” he said.
The third factor, the environment, could well push the price of ships’ fuel even higher.
The correct response to this situation would be “the systematic application of technology”, said Stopford.
It’s an approach that will favour a return to basics by concentrating on engineering and ships’ design.
Whereas the last ten years were about building ships quickly to meet rising demand, the next decade will be about keeping operational costs under control, argued Stopford.