Global new orders this year have sharply decreased as low as in 2009, when shipyards suffered severe orders drought right after global financial crisis.
However, while new order for commercial ship plummeted, new order in terms of value is twice larger than 2009 due to massive contracts of high-value specialized vessels.
Meanwhile, newbuilding delivery is to exceed that from 2010, hitting all-time high.
According to Clarksons, new order in the first 11 months dropped to 1,141 vessels of 59.6m dwt, as low as 55.2m dwt in 2009. And it is just one fourth of 273m dwt during a boom in 2007 and falls short of half of 137.5m dwt from last year.
In terms of gt, cumulative 47.7m-gt newbuildings were ordered from January to November and about overall 50m-gt are expected to be newly ordered in 2011.
Meanwhile, new order value during January-November period turns out to be around $87.2bn, which doubles $40.4bn in 2009 and is close to $99.8bn from last year. This represents high-value specialized ship orders, such as LNG carrier, drillship, ultra-large boxship, etc., have led the newbuilding market this year.
In particular, South Korean builders sweeped new order market for high-value ships, winning $46.7bn, 24.5m gt of new order year to date, while Chinese secured $18.1bn or 16.9m gt.
Owners in the US placed $15.7bn of new order, Greece ordered $12.3bn, Norway $7.9bn, Denmark $6.7bn and Brazil $5.8bn. China only newly ordered $4.6bn.
Meanwhile, 2,259 vessels of 146.2m dwt have been newly delivered in the first 11 months and about 159.4m-dwt delivery is estimated for 2011, exceeding 151.1m dwt in 2010.
Newbuilding delivery would be in a downturn with 149m dwt in 2012 and 116m dwt in 2013 going forward.
In terms of gross tonnage, 90.3m gt has been delivered by November and 99m gt is expected to be delivered for this year, also exceeding 96.9m gt of last year.
China and South Korea would make a record-high deliveries of 67m dwt or 34.8m gt and 53m dwt or 32.4m gt respectively this year.
As of early December, world newbuilding orderbook stands at 6,195 vessels of 375m dwt, constantly in decrease after 618m dwt in the end of 2008, 535m dwt in 2009 end, and 487m dwt in 2010 end.
In terms of gt, newbuilding backlog recorded 240m gt as of the early this month, following 393m gt in late 2008, 335m gt in late 2009, and 299m gt in the end of 2010.