Carriers will be able to limit the capacity inflation of the ultra large container vessels (ULCVs) that are to arrive the following years by delaying deliveries and slowing services, according to Drewry. According to the current orderbook, the overall number of orders is approximately 460.000 TEU for 2019, whereas Drewry predicts that in 2020 the calls will reach about the 620.000 TEU, reaching a record.
Overall, 26 containerships of more than 18.000 TEU were delivered to carriers during 2018, a record number since ULCVs first hit the water in 2013. Specifically, all the vessels, with a capacity of 525,500 TEU, were deployed in the Asia-North Europe trade.
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Moreover, Drewry stated that it will be a challenge when accommodating this kind of large capacities mostly in Asia and North Europe, as the trade is in a slow development condition. Yet, they support that the task will not be as hard as it appears.
Most commonly, the delivery schedules are formed downwards in time. As a result, it is possible that the ULCVs scheduled for the two years following will arrive as scheduled from the beginning, with many being pushed into following years.
However, when a vessel enters a trade it does not result to the route’s increase. In other words, slow steaming provides lines with the option to have a new vessel to a weekly service and maintain the existing capacity, under the circumstances that the vessel is of the same size as those it it joining.
Concluding, according to Drewry, slow steaming process was motivated in order to reduce vessel fuel consumption, in accordance to IMO’s 2020 sulphur regulations. Slow steaming will enable vessels to enter trade without hiking up capacity.
