124 vessels are expected to enter the oil tanker trading fleet before the end of this year. Meanwhile, about 60 tankers are to be sold for demolition or conversion, according to the latest report by McQuilling Partners.
124 vessels are expected to enter the oil tanker trading fleet before the end of this year. Meanwhile, about 60 tankers are to be sold for demolition or conversion, according to the latest report by McQuilling Partners.
Through third quarter 2014, based on the forecast, 93 vessels should have delivered to the fleet and 60 tankers should have exited the fleet. Actual proprietary data shows that 79 vessels have delivered – 17% below original expectations and 64 vessels have exited, which not only exceeds the group's year-to-date forecast, but the full year-forecast as well, McQuilling reports.
There has been limited net fleet growth in the larger crude tanker segments.
The Aframax and Panamax fleets have both seen a slim down this year as the Aframaxes have shed 14 ships and Panamaxes one. Clean product tankers, for the most part, have also seen either negative or barely any fleet growth, with the exception of the MR2 class. Through September, MR2s (IMO III) posted a net fleet growth of 28 ships.
While the tanker markets, according to the worldmaritime news can still be considered oversupplied.
In a related development, container volumes handled by ports worldwide is expected to increase to up to one Billion Twenty-Foot Equivalent (TEU) by the end of the decade, up from 623 million TEU in 2013.
Speaking at a seminar in London, Drewry Maritime research senior manager Dinesh Sharma explained that exponential growth anticipated in Asia, and in particular China, will help drive throughput by an average 5.5 per cent, or 40 per cent in total, between now and 2020.,
The current edition of Lloyd's List explained that to reach the one billion TEU mark during this period transhipment volumes are expected to contribute a large chunk to the total, increasing by 140 million TEU, or 83 per cent, from 175 million TEU at present to 320 million TEU.
Sharma explained that Asia will continue to play a vital role in this volume growth with the demand for cargo continuing to grow from not just the region but also from a rising number of countries that rely on its export trade.
Sharma forecasts Asia's share in global traffic will increase from its current 56 per cent to as much as 65 per cent by 2020.
Meanwhile, China, home to seven of the world's top 10 largest container ports, will increase its own share from its current 30 per cent to 40 per cent during this period.
Sharma, according to agency report warned that ports both big and small will come under increasing pressure to provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate this rapid growth in demand, with particular regards to shipping lines upsizing vessels.
Sharma said this will not only require investment in larger cranes, longer berths and yard space, but also berth productivity and efficiency must be improved to meet the requirements of these larger ships.
Global marine premiums dropped by 1.7% last year, falling from $34.8Billion in 2012 to $34.2Billion , as shown by the latest statistics released by the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) at its 2014 annual conference held in Hong Kong.
The conference gathered over 500 attendees who heard from industry experts on how the marine environment is evolving as governments and businesses attempt to chart a secure, sustainable economic recovery.
As explained by IUMI, world trade is still suffering from the lasting effects of the European Union recession, high unemployment rates in the European Union along with uncertainties regarding the United States Federal Reserve's "unconventional policies".
Vice-Chairman of the Facts and Figures Committee, Astrid Seltmann, explained that despite increasing global trade volumes, cargo premiums are stagnating.
In the $18.2Billion cargo premiums market, Europe has a 43.8% market share, with the Asia-Pacific region contributing 29.2% of premiums.
China tops the cargo rankings with a 9.3% market share, followed by Japan with 8.5%.
With respect to hull insurers, premiums are also stagnating despite a continuous increase of the world fleet. Hull premiums for 2013 were $ 8.52Billion down 0.8% on 2012. Europe has the most business with 52.6%, followed by Asia with 32.4%.
According to IUMI, after a period of stabilization, the dry freight rates have fallen again due to stagnating demand, overhang of shipping capacity with new ships continuing to come on stream along with Indonesia's ban on exports of nickel and aluminum.
IUMI expects the global economic recovery to be gradual and shallow, with central banks expected to stick to their current monetary policy.
Permanent change in trade intensity of production is going to affect long-run demand for marine insurance, which means further uncertainty with respect to marine premiums.
This will also be influenced by upcoming persistent capacity inflow together with continued pressure on rates.
London is expected to remain the largest marine insurance hub, however trade is shifting to Asia and Latin America.
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