3 Future tonnage supply

摘要

Overcapacity, falling freight rates, high scrapping volumes and retrenching order activity characterized the shipping markets at the end of 2012. It is hence no wonder that commercial shipbuilding is in crisis. The tonnage of orders placed in 2012 fell by 40 per cent. Only 736 merchant vessels with approximately 17 million cgt were reported as new orders since the start of 2012, compared with 1,170 vessels totalling 29 million cgt one year earlier (excl. late reporting). Due to many deliveries, removals and less new orders — the order book for merchant ships has decreased in all segments. Since its peak in autumn 2008, the total order book has decreased by 58 per cent in terms of cgt.