Shipping lines put growth ambitions on hold and look to defer newbuilds
Against a backdrop of an increasingly pessimistic cargo demand outlook, ocean carriers are said to be in talks with shipyards to defer delivery dates for some of the 2.3m teu of newbuild tonnage due this year.
Against a backdrop of an increasingly pessimistic cargo demand outlook, ocean carriers are said to be in talks with shipyards to defer delivery dates for some of the 2.3m teu of newbuild tonnage due this year.
Shipbuilding contracts usually incorporate a clause to facilitate the pushback of completion by six months or more, depending on the stage of construction and pressure from other orders. But with the container liner industry facing several challenging quarters, the yards may be quite relaxed about rescheduling delivery dates and the postponements will focus on smaller sizes. These are now competing for employment with tonnage usurped by the arrival of newbuild 24,000 teu ULCVs on the Asia-North Europe trade. And shipping line procurement officers have been instructed to halt orders for new containers and return as much leased equipment as possible to ease the huge storage costs from the empty-container mountains overwhelming depots around the world.
Source and Picture : The Loadstar
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