Due to tonnage oversupply and overdue market recovery, boxship market is likely to see another year of low charter rates in 2013.
However boxship fundamental would get better, while tonnage demand-supply would slowly move towards balance from 2014. DNB prospected that the proportion of boxships in operation to overall containership fleet will be remained at around 85% this year, comparable to 2012, but which would grow up to 88% in 2014.
Market players expect that 2013 would see particularly more orders in larger size, which was not a busy segment in 2012. Recently, Yang Ming of Taiwan placed an order for 2013's first ultra-large containerships at Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries through Canadian owner Seaspan. The contract contains five plus five 14,000-teu newbuildings.
There are several projects to be sealed are close at hands, including UASC's five 14,000TEUs and five 18,000TEUs, CSAV's 10 9,000TEUs and 10 10,500TEUs, Seaspan's additional order for 10,000TEUs, etc.
Meanwhile, according to latest statistics from Clarkson and Asiasis, only 70 newbuilding containerships were contracted in 2012, down by 71%, in numerical terms, comparing with 244 vessels contracted in 2011.
Total number of orders for large size boxship over 8,000TEU saw massive decrease to 25 vessels in 2012, on 113 vessels in the previous year. Also, orders for medium size boxship ranging from 3,000-8,000TEU and small size under 3,000TEU all declined to 25 vessels and 20 vessels from 74 vessels and 57 vessels, respectively.
As for Newbuilding Price Index by boxship sizes, as of December 2012, 13,000TEU, 8,800TEU, 4,800TEU, 1,100TEU stood at $107m, $77m, $45m and $18m, down by 17%, 17%, 24% and 11% each. As newbuilding demand was cooling down, newbuilding prices fell as well.
On the contrary, large-scale containership delivery in 2012 worsened tonnage oversupply problem. During the first 11 months in 2012, a total of 184 newbuildings hit the water, which recorded 191 vessels on an annualized basis.
Newbuilding orderbooks also downsized as well. On the basis of December, large-sized containership, mid-sized and small-sized sat on 222 orders, 157 vessels, 114 newbuildings on the book, which all dropped by 51 vessels, 45 vessels and 53 vessels on a year ago.
Meanwhile, during January-November period in 2012, zero large-sized boxship, 24 mid-sized vessels and 130 small-sized ships were sold for scrap, comparing with zero, three vessels and 55 vessels, respectively, headed towards scrap facilities on the previous year.
Overall containership fleet stood at 5,110 vessels of a combined 16.2mTEU as of December of last year, up by 0.3% in numerical terms and up by 6% in terms of TEU.
Boxship fleet is estimated to grow by 8% year-on-year in 2013.