In the first quarter of 2011, the new orders totaled 227 vessels, the new low since the third quarter of 2009. According to the statistics of Clarkson, there were only 8 tankers of 667,000 dwt ordered in the first three months which was the lowest lever ever since 1996, while the orders for tankers hit 75 vessel of 13.8m dwt in last 3rd quarter.
Bulker carrier orders for the first quarter stood at 79 vessels of 6.6m dwt, dropping significantly compared with last second quarter (279 vessels, 31.5m dwt). However, the performance was much better than that of the second quarter of 2009 (31 vessels of 3.2m dwt).
ICAP Shipping pointed out shipyards continued ordering new vessels in the last year due to the low price. As the result, 2011 new orders were trapped by adequate orderbook and terrible shipping financing. Besides, newbuilding prices are very likely to keep current high level because of the increasing materials and labor costs.