Month: July 2022

Yards toy with adding capacity

Amid a record ordering boom – and with an eye on fleet renewal ahead of IMO 2050 – shipbuilders are looking at expansion for the first time in a decade.

MSI Director Stuart Nicoll states that “physical capacity tends not to disappear as yards are either mothballed or put to work on other forms of heavy industry, effective capacity is a lot easier and quicker to bring back online when markets improve, though one limiting factor can be the availability of a trained workforce“. Read more views at Splash247

Gloomy outlook for container freight market as rates continue to fall

A deteriorating picture of the container freight market outlook is painted by the Maritime Strategies International’s (MSI) July Horizon report.

The analysts say they continue to expect container markets to “run out of steam” in the third quarter, with “a sharper drop-off in Q4 as the unwinding supply chain disruptions and cooling consumer demand drive the decline in freight and time charter rates”. Read more at The Loadstar

Shipyards face cancellations over weak freight market and interest rates

Yards have built up a large order backlog, with deliveries scheduled up until 2026. This means that construction of most vessels on order will start in the next two years, when buyers will start to pay the remaining ship price. MSI is currently expecting to see an increase in cancellations amid rising interest rates and slowing economic growth. Read more at Lloydslist.

New offshore projects coming in UK and Norway

Offshore support vessel (OSV) owners will benefit from increased investment in the North Sea oil and gas sector, with some deferred projects being brought forward. High energy prices are driving oil and gas companies to expand their expenditure on new offshore projects, some involving billions of dollars of investment for deepwater projects. 

Watch MSI Director James Frew’s interview at the recent OSJ conference with Riviera.