Clarkson Research Services News

The Hamburg-based Schulte Group said it has received clearance by the German Federal Cartel Office for the acquisition of the LNG specialist PRONAV. With this strategic move, the family-owned ship owner and manager continues to increase its capabilities and capacity in the growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. Through the acquisition of PRONAV, the Schulte Group has increased the number of vessels under full management in its third-party management fleet by six additional LNG carriers (LNGC). At present, the Schulte Group provides full management for three LNGC and crew management for 21 LNGC. Five LNGCs with a capacity of 173…

Shipyards in China have surpassed  South Korea again in terms of receiving the most orders for new ships and platforms, while fierce battle for the number one position in shipbuilding orders continues. China ranked first globally with 195 vessel orders, while South Korea was second with 104 during the first eight months of this year, Yicai Global reported citing Clarkson Research Services. According to the report, total global orders for January to August were 489 vessels, up about 40 percent annually. New orders for ships worldwide for the first seven months of the year already surpassed the total for last year. Clearly showing the fierce competition between the two countries…

Containership deliveries changed course in 2016, toppling from the record level of 1.7m TEU in 2015 to reach just 0.9m TEU, having previously increased each year between 2011 and 2015, says a report from Clarkson Research Services. If deliveries remain at these slightly more moderate levels in coming years, this could potentially herald a new era of less robust fleet growth in the boxship sector. The dramatic slowdown in boxship deliveries last year, alongside record levels of demolition, led to fleet growth of just 1.2% in 2016, down from 8.1% in 2015. The volume of containership capacity delivered in 2016 was the lowest since 2004 and dropped by 46% y-o-y from record levels in 2015, to 127 vessels of 903,662 TEU.

In recent decades, trade between the Australia and China have made an increasingly significant contribution to growth in global seaborne trade, and the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015 is driving further co-operation, says a report by Clarkson Research Services. But just how important has the impact of trade between these two countries been? Between 2006 and 2016, Chinese imports from Australia grew by a CAGR of 17% p.a. to reach an estimated 792mt in 2016. The sheer volume of trade flowing between the two countries has meant each now fulfils a vital role for the other. Australia is China’s top trade partner by some distance in terms of tonnes, with more than a third of China’s seaborne imports in tonnes sourced from Australia in 2016, up from a fifth in 2006.

As widely expected, the opening of the new, expanded locks at the Panama Canal in June 2016 has considerably impacted the ‘old Panamax’ containership sector, says a report by Clarkson Research Services. The displacement of these narrow beam vessels, resulting from the upsizing of services through the canal, has driven a change in deployment patterns in this sector and also contributed to a record level of containership demolition. The new locks at the Panama Canal allow 16.7m TEU of current fleet capacity to transit, compared to just 7.2m TEU which is able to transit the old locks. Following the opening of the new locks in June 2016…

Clarkson Research Services says market conditions across most sectors of the shipping industry have been highly challenging in 2016. The ClarkSea Index, which illustrates the fortunes of earnings for the major commercial ship types makes fairly clear the fate of the volume shipping sectors, but how is the wider global fleet covered by World Fleet Monitor faring now, in comparison to the post-downturn period as a whole? The ClarkSea Index, an average of earnings for tankers, bulkers, boxships and gas carriers, averaged $10,574/day in November 2016, down 11% on the average since the start of 2009, a handy marker for the onset of the downturn.

While container trade growth has slowed in recent years, box trade has still expanded significantly since the turn of the milliennium, according to Clarkson Research Services Limited. In 2016, box trade is projected to total 181m TEU, almost three times volumes in 2000, having grown by an average 6.4% p.er annum. However, with an increased focus on Asia, this growth has not been evenly spread across the trade lanes. This century has seen significant growth in global container trade driven by increased volumes across a range of trade lanes (see graph), though some have seen faster growth than others. Back in 2000, mainlane container trade totalled 25.3m TEU, accounting for the largest proportion of global box trade of the featured groupings.

The festive season is here, so shoppers are out and looking to buy. However, when it comes to the bulk carrier sale and purchase market, business has been booming throughout 2016, says Clarkson Research Services. The depressed earnings environment and limited availability of finance have seen increased ‘distressed’ sales, while some investors have been hoping to pick up a bargain. Let us take a look at this ship shopping spree. A total of 567 bulkers of a combined 40m dwt were sold secondhand in January to November 2016, equivalent to 5% of bulker fleet capacity at the start of 2016. In terms of tonnage, sales were up 15% on full year 2015 and slightly above the previous annual record in 2007.

With European owners leading the pack in buying up vessels, the sale and purchase market appears to have been notably active in recent years, reveals Clarkson Research Services Limited. While Europe has been the main buyer region, the picture between owner countries in each region remains mixed. Greek owners have been the key European buyers, while Chinese and Japanese owners have taken very different approaches to S&P activity. The sale and purchase market has seen firm activity since the start of 2014, with 3,313 vessels of a combined 117.7m GT reported sold during this time. This compares to a total of 97.8m GT reported sold in the period 2011-2013.

During the last year, China’s “teapot” refiners are helping to boost China’s crude import demand and their influence is expanding, says Clarkson Research Services. Chinese crude oil imports have historically been dominated by a handful of state-owned companies. However, since mid-2015 Beijing has started to liberalise China’s oil market, and is gradually allowing more independent refiners to process imported crude, and import crude oil directly. China’s independent, typically small, “teapot” refiners account for an estimated 20-30% of Chinese refinery capacity, with Shandong province home to around 70% of total “teapot” refinery capacity.

Piracy has existed since the conception of shipping, and pirate attacks on vessels continue to disrupt trade, raising vessel security concerns and impacting the operation and insurance costs for ships, says Clarkson Research Services. The drivers behind piracy are wide but primarily economic and clearly, geography is also key. This month, we take a closer look at recent shifts in the regional distribution of piracy ‘hot spots’. Piracy remains a prevalent concern within the shipping industry, raising issues around vessel security, disrupting trade routes and increasing ship operation costs. In the year to date, 85 piracy attacks have been reported globally compared to 142 in the same period of 2015.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), the world's leading maritime and logistics service provider, is driving a global roll-out of its new cargo and agency platform, YourISS2. Designed to increase efficiencies, standardise processes and documents and enhance service delivery, the innovative platform also gives ISS customers the transparency and data they need for instant, informed business decisions, cost savings, performance and trade analysis. With Canada, Mexico, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Mexico among the latest countries to go live, YourISS2 is now available in all ISS locations and can be used by all stakeholders in the process of cargo or husbandry services.

While South Korean shipbuilders are continuing to struggle for survival as the recession in the global shipbuilding market drags on, they have clinched new orders to build nine ships in the first four months of the year. Yonhap, quoting industry data, said that the S.Korean shipyards, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., have clinched new orders to build nine ships, accounting for 5 percent of new shipbuilding orders placed around the globe. The country's shipbuilders have racked up 200,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in shipbuilding orders during the January-April period, while their Chinese and Japanese rivals have won 1.92 million CGTs or 59 ships and 180,000 CGTs or eight vessels, respectively, during the cited period, says global research firm Clarkson Research Services.

The global slump in the shipbuilding industry means that South Korea's ship yards have to look far and wide for new orders. Combined, the three major yards have only received one order in the first quarter of the year. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have received zero new shipbuilding orders, according to sources quoted by local media Yonhap. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is the only one among the three to have landed a KRW150 billion ($130.6 million) order in March to build two petrochemical tankers. But a report in Korea Times says that so far this year affiliate shipbuilders of…

The recent shifts in demand trends contributed to slower seaborne trade growth in 2014 (3.2%) and 2015 (2.0%). Clarkson Research Services Limited checks how has this reflected changes in demand for bulk shipments into major importing countries? Following a decline in 2009, seaborne trade grew on average by 4.9% p.a. in 2010-13, reflecting booming import demand in a number of key importing countries and faster than global GDP growth. The ratio between global seaborne trade growth and GDP growth (the ‘multiplier’), when considered over a long time period, can be a useful indicator of the impact of drivers in shipping. Following the economic downturn…

According to Clarkson Research Services, the record pace of fleet growth over the last decade and weakening global demand outlook has left many of the major shipping segments facing severe oversupply. Demolition of older ships is one way of easing overcapacity and recycling volumes have been strong in recent years. The top ten owner countries typically account for the majority of recycling with Chinese and Greek owners leading the way. Last year a total of 860 ships of a combined 23m GT were reported sold for demolition. This is equivalent to 2% of the start year fleet. During the shipping market boom demolition activity was limited as owners capitalised on the strong earnings environment.

According to UK-based Clarkson Research Services, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) had an order backlog in November of just over three million compensated gross tons  (CGTs), an indicator of the level of shipbuilding ouput. That puts the Chinese  shipbuilder in fifth place by order backlog in November, posing a threat to South Korean shipyards which had been dominating the top five list for years. SWS had an order backlog of 3.03 million CGTs as of end-November, beating South Korea's Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. that held 2.84 million CGTs, says a report in Yonhap. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. captured the top spot with 8.24 million CGTs, trailed by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. with 5.03 million CGTs and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

South Korean shipbuilders' new orders in November fell to the lowest level in six years amid woes over their growing losses, Yonhap reports. Meanwhile, Chinese rivals scooped up a large slice of contracts, according to the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services. South Korean shipyards bagged new orders totaling 79,834 compensated gross tons (CGTs) last month, the lowest since September 2009. But, Chinese shipbuilders received 1.46 million CGTs worth of new orders last month, which accounted for some 80 percent of the total orders placed around the globe, the data showed. Japan came in third with 50,000 CGTs worth of new orders last month. The industry’s top three companies by revenue— Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.

South Korean shipbuilders, led by industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., have secured the largest amount of new orders in the first six months of the year to retain the top slot, while the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve, the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services showed. The new shipbuilding orders around the globe in the first half of this year amounted to 13.28 million compensated gross tons (CGTs). The figure is about 49.2 percent from 26.99 million CGTs a year ago. In the past year, the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve. During the cited period, South Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 5.92 CGTs. The figure is about the 96.1 percent level of 6.16 million CGTs tallied a year earlier.

China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Economic Belt development vision has takers in UK maritime sector, reports Xinhua News Agency. Both countries expected to improve bilateral maritime cooperation in the "Belt and Road" initiative, chairman of Maritime London Lord Mountevans said. ‘All maritime roads lead to London’ stated moderator Doug Barrow, chief executive of promotional body Maritime London, organiser of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) event. CMA CGM, the third biggest container operator globally, signed a strategic "Belt and Road" project with China Merchants Holdings, investment arm of China Merchants (CM) Group, to investigate and evaluate together investment opportunities.

South Korean shipbuilders have ranked first in the world outpacing Chinese and Japanese rivals in terms of new orders in the third quarter of the year, reports Yonhap quoting  Clarkson Research Services. South Korean shipyards bagged new orders totaling 2.11 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) last month, trailing Chinese shipbuilders at 3.48 million CGTs and Japanese companies with 2.36 million CGTs. The country retained its status as the world's leading shipbuilding country in terms of new orders between February and June. It was relegated to second place in July and to third in August. In the first nine months of the year, South Korean shipbuilders secured new shipbuilding orders totaling 8.77 million CGTs, followed by China with 6.33 million CGTs and Japan with 5.99 million CGTs.

‘VWGate’ has raised a flag for managers and technicians in the transport business. ‘Efficiency’ used to be left to the market, but the intrepid twins, consumer health and climate change, have changed all that, says a report from Clarkson Research Services. Shipping boasted of being the most ‘efficient’ transport mode, but the twins took a look at what was coming out of the funnel and the rest is history (as is anyone not paying attention to emission regulations). The shipping industry has been squeezing diesel technology for fifty years and faces similar problems to the VW engine designers. The technical cupboard appears fairly empty, so the opportunities for improving performance look slim. The challenge is to find another way to measure and improve performance.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) is expected to log an operating loss of over 5 trillion won (US$4.4 billion) this year, up by some 1 trillion won from previous forecasts, reports Yonhap. The outlook follows a recent audit by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of the troubled company, which has revealed additional losses from overseas branches, according to the sources. The South Korean government has suspended a push for creditors to bail out DSME after this huge estimated losses to a canceled order and rising costs in the industry. The cash-strapped shipbuilder will only get another lifeline only if it comes up with a radical restructuring plan and workers undertake in writing to back the plan.