Despite containership deliveries falling over 50% in numerical terms since 2008 to 202 ships last year, deliveries have remained relatively consistent in TEU terms. With 2014 projected to be a buoyant year for boxship deliveries, especially in the Very Large Containership (8,000+ TEU) sector, this month’s Shipbuilding Focus takes a closer look at delivery trends in the containership sector.
Sizing Up The Action
As the Graph of the Month shows, the number of boxships delivered into the global fleet has fluctuated since 2005. Whilst just over 270 containerships were reported delivered in 2005, 436 ships were reported as entering the containership fleet in 2008. This subsequently fell to around 200 boxships between 2011 and 2013. However, whilst the number of ships delivered has fluctuated, the volume of containership tonnage delivered has stayed more consistent at around 1.2m to 1.4m TEU. This is at least partly due to upsizing across the sector with the average size of a boxship delivery now almost 8,000 TEU, over double that in 2005.
Pushing A Bigger Gear
Vessel upsizing has led to a significant change in the boxship product mix. VLCSs, which accounted for around 30% of deliveries on average in TEU terms between 2005 and 2009, accounted for over 60% of deliveries in the period 2010-13 and, in the ytd, 58 VLCSs have been reported delivered. This includes 22 ships above 12,000 TEU. Helped by firm deliveries in the ytd, particularly for the largest vessels, full year 2014 is currently projected to become a record year for VLCS deliveries with 1.15m TEU forecast. Meanwhile, at the smaller end, there has been a notable drop off in delivery activity. Whilst the 3-8,000 TEU sector accounted for almost 50% of TEU delivered between 2005 and 2010, the sector currently accounts for 16% of deliveries. Similarly, ships <3,000 TEU accounted for 5% of boxship deliveries in TEU terms last year, down from around 25% in the period between 2005 and 2008.
The General Classification
South Korean yards typically account for the majority of boxship deliveries and, last year, four Korean yards accounted for almost 60% of global boxship deliveries in TEU terms. Korean yards are particularly active in the largest sectors, delivering 90% of vessels 12,000+ TEU since 2005. However, whilst yards in South Korea previously nigh on monopolised VLCS output, Chinese builders are increasingly active in the sector. However, despite having some of the biggest vessels on order (c.17,500 TEU), at present, the majority of boxship deliveries reported from Chinese yards are sized 8,000-12,000 TEU. In the ytd, 45 boxships have been reported delivered from Chinese yards and of these, 16 have been 8,000+ TEU. This is the largest number of VLCSs delivered annually from Chinese yards on record.
So, there has been upsizing across the boxship sector and VLCSs now account for the most significant share of containership deliveries. Whilst Korean yards still account for the majority of VLCSs output, Chinese shipyards are now starting to feature more heavily. This geographical expansion has helped drive 2014’s boxship delivery forecast to a record 1.46m TEU.
