There have been 63 vessels of a cumulative 3.1m dwt ordered in February 2012, which represents a month-on-month increase in contracting of about 22% in terms of dwt.
In particular, six LNG carriers were contracted in February, all of which have been ordered at South Korean shipyards. There have been 12 product tankers contracted from January to February this year, all of these product carriers have been also ordered at Korean yards. 
However, Clarksons reported that there have been 107 vessels of a cumulative of 5.7m dwt ordered during January-February, down by 52% year-on-year.
During the first two months of the year, Korean shipbuilders contracted overall 38 vessels of 3.3m dwt (worth $3.8bn in total), followed by Chinese 27 vessels of 2.1m dwt ($400m) with Korean going ahead in winning high-value newbuildings.
An estimated cumulative total of $6bn was invested in new contracts during February, up from $1.4bn in January. The offshore sector has seen the active investment last month, three drillships (two at Samsung and one at Jurong Aracruz) having been ordered. Meyer Werft of Germany contracted one cruise ship.
Norwegian owners invested an estimated $2.4bn in new contracts in February, about 40% of the total amount invested during the month. Seadrill, Golar LNG, Hoegh LNG, etc., have contracted high-value vessel/offshore facility, such as drillship, LNG carrier, LNG-FSRU, etc.
Asian yards have booked 82 contracts in the first two months, around 77% of global orders in numerical terms. Of the new orders placed at Asian yards, bulkers took the largest proportion, 31%, and tanker followed after with 28%. Asian shipbuilders have won all of the bulker contracts.
In Europe, besides one cruise ship and eight offshore support vessels, Turkish yard Besiktas inked an order for 9,000-cbm Ethylene/LPG carrier and Turkish yard Sedef Gemi End. scored a contract for one 7,000-dwt Asphalt & Bitumen carrier.
Meanwhile, the Clarkson newbuilding price index showed an eighth consecutive month-on-month decline in February and recorded 136.3p, as of the end of last month, down by 1.3p on January 2012.
Particularly in case of containership, ordering has almost been absent. Almost every ship type, except LNG carrier and small-sized LPG carrier, saw newbuilding prices falling.
During last month, 94 vessels of a cumulative 7.6m dwt were delivered in the world, down from 267 vessels of a combined 19.6m dwt in January 2012.
In the first two months, Chinese yards have delivered a total of 160 vessels of a cumulative 11.7m dwt, 43% of global delivery in dwt terms. Korean shipbuilders have delivered 90 vessels of a combined 9.2m dwt.
Global newbuilding orderbook stood at 5,760 vessels of a combined 349.4m dwt (112.7m cgt), as of the end of February. About 54% volume of the orderbook, in terms of dwt, is to be delivered in the rest of months in 2012, which would cause builders to suffer from more pain amid work deficiency from 2013.
Meanwhile, 99 vessels of a cumulative 5.3m dwt were sold for scrap in February, up by 30% in numerical terms month-on-month, while $/ldt rates have decreased.
A total of 9.2m dwt were sold for scrap during January-February, with the average age of 27.9 years, down from 30.2 years in 2011. An estimated 49.1m dwt would be disposed of in 2012.