MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Shipowners order US$105.5B of new vessels in 2006

According to London-based Clarkson, the world's biggest shipbroker, shipowners ordered new vessels worth a record US$105.5 billion in 2006. The trend has been spurred by tanker owners keen to upgrade their fleets ahead of IMO single-hull tanker deadlines that kick in at the end of the decade, according to an article published by Gulf News.

In its monthly World Shipyard Monitor the broker said tanker owners increased their spending by as much as 122 percent to US$49.2 billion last year, giving a boosting the fortunes of shipbuilders. Furthermore, overall spending surged by 37 percent from 2005 levels and surpassed a previous record of US$76.3 billion that owners spent in 2004. In the wake of the record newbuilding figures for 2006, a leading analyst has warned owners to exercise caution when ordering new container ships or there could be a serious glut in tonnage. Nazery Khalid, research fellow at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia was speaking at the Asian Shipping and Work Boat Conference held in Singapore last week. He said, "Freight and charter rates are falling, but ship prices continue to rise!" Furthermore, a significant number of shipyards were "stuck" with loss-making newbuilding projects that had been contracted several years ago. The top ten carriers in the world enjoyed a combined global market share of 60 percent in 2006, up from 49.3 percent in 2000, according to a new survey from French shipping consultancy AXS-Alphaliner. In terms of fleet size, this represented an increase from 2.54 million TEU to 6.28 million TEU over the period. The Liner Shipping Report shows that the world's top three ocean liners, Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM, have increased their collective global market share from 32.4 percent to 33.1 percent in 2006 in terms of TEU carrying capacity. This compares to a combined market share of 23.7 percent on January 1, 2000 for the three leading container shipping companies, which back then were Maersk Sealand, Evergreen and P&O Nedlloyd. The report points out that Maersk Line commanded the largest global market share of 16.8 percent at the beginning of this year but this was down from 18.2 percent a year ago and this downturn is attributed to the integration difficulties Maersk faces in integrating P&O Nedlloyd. Both MSC and CMA CGM are said to have "strongly" strengthened their positions, with MSC raising its global market share from 8.6 percent to 9.5 percent in 2006. CMA CGM increased its share from 5.6 percent to 6.5 percent during the same period. The report plotted the movements in market share focusing on the global container shipping industry between January 2000 and January 2007. The findings indicate that during this period the world's shipping lines doubled the TEU capacity deployed on the various trades, from 5.15 million TEU to 10.47 million TEU, an increase of 103 percent. The analysts point out that this sharp rise in capacity has meant shipping lines have had to boost the carrying capacity of their fleet by 103 percent in order to maintain their market share. Failure to purchase newbuilds or charter additional vessels has resulted in lost market share. The results highlight the rise and fall of some of the world's top players by comparing the ratio between market shares at January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2007. The four success stories of this period are: CMA CGM, CSCL, MSC and Hapag Lloyd. During these past seven years, CMA CGM recorded growth of 174 percent with its market share rising from 2.4 percent to 6.5 percent, with organic growth accounting for more than 80 percent of this growth. CSCL's market share has risen from 1.67 percent to 3.82 percent, up 127.8 percent, purely through organic growth. MSC's market share has climbed from 4.4 percent to 9.8 percent. Hapag-Lloyd's market share grew from 2.0 percent to 4.4 percent, with the acquisition of CP Ships in 2005 accounting for around three-quarters of this growth. In fifth place is the CSAV Group, whose market share rose from 1.4 percent to 2.4 percent in part due to the acquisitions of Norasia and the Norsul liner services, as well as organic growth. The world's largest shipping line in terms of fleet capacity with 1.76 million TEU, the AP Moeller-Maersk Group, however, is ranked in eighth place for market share growth, primarily due to its takeover of Royal P&O Nedlloyd which rapidly swelled its market share from 12.5 percent to 18 percent. Last year, the company's market share dropped to 16.8 percent. Buenos Aires Herald