Analysis by Drewry
Deliveries of 8,000 teu > containerships, Jan-Aug 2015, ‘000 teu
Source: Drewry Maritime Research
According to Drewry, the “arms race” for Ultra Large Container Vessels of 18,000 teu and above continues apace, but carriers are having to be more creative when deciding where to deploy smaller deliveries.
China COSCO, shares of which are still suspended from trading amid merger talks with China Shipping, has confirmed the much-anticipated $1.5 billion order of 11 x 19,000 teu ships from four different Chinese shipyards for delivery in 2018.
The average price for each ship comes in at $137.4 million, which represents a significant discount of around $10-20 million paid by other lines for similar-sized leviathans, a measure of the Chinese shipbuilding industry’s need for new orders. To give a sense of the newbuild price deflation, Maersk’s 18,000-teu “Triple-E’s” ordered in February 2011 cost $190 million apiece.
Cosco’s orders means that there are now nine carriers who either have ships of this size currently in their fleet or on order. More are expected to follow as CSCL is reportedly on the verge of ordering 11 more ULCVs, while Japanese shipyard Imabari has also reportedly received an order for four 20,000 teu units with an as yet unnamed owner.
There is no going back from this point as the industry has made it abundantly clear that they see these ULCVs as the future. But recent developments have exposed their inflexibility somewhat. The alarming drop in Asia to Europe traffic and a parallel crash in rates caused two of the big carriers groups to take the unprecedented decision to suspend services in the supposed peak season, while the two other alliances have been tinkering with missed sailings in order to try and support higher rate requests.
Source: Drewry
