As newbuilding price heading for historically lowest point and fleet overtonnage getting relieved, boxship ordering is expected to resume in the near future.
In a report, the Baltic & International Maritime Council (BIMCO) said that despite the fact that signing newbuilding containership contracts remains extraordinarily low since the second half of last year, shipyards are offering cheaper slots in an attempt to fill their orderbooks and therefore, new order would soon begin.
BIMCO forecast that "Despite the overcapacity, low newbuilding prices may tempt shipowners looking to renew their fleets and replace older tonnage with new designs and fuel-efficient eco-friendly ship."
For instance, South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction's Subic shipyard bagged a newbuilding contract for 5,000-teu 10 containership series, valued in around $45m per vessel, thanks to price competitiveness, last week. Also, Hanjin is said to be winning additional order, as being in talks with other owners for its same-size eco-friendly vessel.
Besides, China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Guangzhou Wenchong Shipbuilding, etc., have penned orders for small-sized boxship series, such as 1,100-teu, 2,200-teu, etc.
According to BIMCO, global containership owners have been selling large-scale older tonnage during the first five months of the year, which suggests that the demolition numbers are expected to be higher than previous estimation for the whole 2012.
Due to seasonal factor, etc., demolition prices recently fall, however, 60 ships of a combined of 109,200 teu have left for demolition during January-May. The size of demolished vessels is relatively small, less than 3,600 teu, at an average age of 25 years.
During the first five months of 2012, 88 newbuilding containerships of a cumulative 654,000 teu have been delivered, which caused the active fleet grow by 3.6%. Mostly ultra-large vessels, such as 14,100 teu, etc., have hit the water.
Meanwhile, amid increasing rates, since the middle of March, the idle fleet has dropped by 47% from about 900,000 teu to around 480,000 teu today. As long as rates hold up, the idle fleet would continue to drop, just ahead of the peak season in August.
The containership freight rates have been on an upturn since March 2012, increasing $1,300 per teu, compared to early 2012. Also, demand for boxship is recovering, as container cargo volume on the Far East-Europe trading gained by 5% in the first quarter, etc.