Dry Bulk Ordering Plunges As Credit Crisis Spreads

摘要

Patterns of dry bulk carrier ordering in 2008 clearly show the dramatic impact that the global credit crisis and ensuing collapse of freight rates for that ship type had in the final months of the year. Initial data indicate that, whereas 25.0mdwt of fresh contracting had been reported in 3q08 (excluding ships under 10,000dwt), just 1.4 mdwt of such orders materialised in the fourth quarter. (By comparison, 31.5mdwt of bulker contracts had been placed in the last three months of 2007). This took total bulker ordering for calendar 2008 to 67.6mdwt - down by 86.6mdwt (-56.2%) from 2007 volumes and the lowest annual total since 2003.