A measure of the world economy can be made with the number of ships – container ships in particular that have been made idle because there is no work for them.
A measure of the world economy can be made with the number of ships – container ships in particular that have been made idle because there is no work for them.
When there is either an oversupply or a downturn in the economiy, ship owners and operators are forced to place some of their fleet on layby. According to the French-based analyst Alphaliner, the number and capacity of ships placed in this condition in the eight months since June 2011 has risen 10-fold from a capacity low of 75,000 TEU to 750,900 TEU or 268 ships of all sizes at the end of January this year.
The total active world fleet of container ships by contrast increased 6% in capacity during the same period to 14,8 million TEU so it would appear that an oversupply may be the main problem facing shipping lines.
Alphaliner reported that the Far East – Europe and Far East to North America accounted for 40% of the total world fleet deployment but experienced the smallest capacity growth compared to all other routes during 2011.
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