Wednesday, 23 October 19 SHIPPING MARKET INSIGHT - INTERMODAL
Moving closer to the end of the year, we are facing what the market was expecting for quite a while, the ship repair sector booming with the shipyards stretching their capacity to the maximum possible. Their only task, to accommodate as many projects as possible despite the prevailing restrictions on berthing capacity, craneage lifting capacity and resources. At the same time, the mentality of owners has already adapted to the ‘new era’ with the majority of them demonstrating the maximum possible flexibility to help their projects move forward. Therefore, in most cases, projects are completed with Owner’s resilience on the retrofit time, on vessel’s ETA and at the initial overall budget.
Taking a closer glance to the Far East shipyards, we see that those are the one to encounter the heaviest workload worldwide. The reason of course is the ongoing scrubber retrofits, with Owners giving preference to Far East for their retrofits due to trading patterns for big size vessels and competitive retrofit rates. Therefore, we do have a clearly define orderbook for most of the shipyards there till July 2020, leaving limited remaining slots available.
Owners experiencing the worst impact of this congestion are those with small routine drydocks, which are the least sought after business by yards, as well as those owners that additionally have to proceed with the installation of the BWMS and are now being restricted by Charterers in regards to which area they can release their vessels, limiting their choice of yard as a result. Shipyards as a matter of fact are holding their valuable slots for projects with higher profit margin while also trying to sell the remaining slots at a premium.
Due to the above situation it is quite common to see vessels waiting for a week or more before entering the yard or being quadruple bank berthed waiting to be served. In some cases, Owners have been also considering repair shipyards or places which were previously considered non competent, as an ultimate effort to find a slot.
Another unexpected factor which has created an even bigger tremble into the repair market recently is the surge in VLCC freight rates. This has created a unilateral effort by Owners to postpone their scheduled dry docking or retrofits, in order to get the full benefit of the very firm market, which is obvious that won’t last long. These postponements come with very short notice and are expected to cause an even bigger bottleneck during the forthcoming Chinese New Year.
Psychological theory holds that early in life many people make personal and professional choices that conform to the expectations of their parents, friends and society, whereas in their middle years many feel a pressing need for individuation, or breaking free from these expectation and start rewriting their lives’ path. We could say that most yards are now going through a similar midlife crisis, with most of them moving away from the very specific mandate the ship repair market had up until recently and trying to pencil out an independent policy, vision, pricing and market share from what they were obliged to follow in the past. By Vassilis Vassiliou
Disclaimer and legal disclosure: For any further queries please do not hesitate to contact our Research & Valuations Department. The information contained in this report has been obtained from various sources, as reported in the market. Intermodal Shipbrokers Co. believes such information to be factual and reliable without making guarantees regarding its accuracy or completeness. Whilst every care has been taken in the production of the above review, no liability can be accepted for any loss or damage incurred in any way whatsoever by any person who may seek to rely on the information and views contained in this material. This report is being produced for the internal use of the intended recipients only and no reproducing is allowed, without the prior written authorization of Intermodal Shipbrokers Co.
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Thursday, 05 December 19 IMO 2020 IS ABOUT TO GET REAL - GAVIN THOMPSON
As I write this edition of the APAC Energy Buzz from my desk in Singapore I can see ships. Lots of ships. No surprise given that Singapore is among ...
Moving closer to the end of the year, we are facing what the market was expecting for quite a while, the ship repair sector booming with the shipyards stretching their capacity to the maximum possible. Their only task, to accommodate as many projects as possible despite the prevailing restrictions on berthing capacity, craneage lifting capacity and resources. At the same time, the mentality of owners has already adapted to the ‘new era’ with the majority of them demonstrating the maximum possible flexibility to help their projects move forward. Therefore, in most cases, projects are completed with Owner’s resilience on the retrofit time, on vessel’s ETA and at the initial overall budget.
