ATTEMPTS by carriers to reduce overcapacity are being undone as new orders for megaships continue, according to Drewry's monthly report Sea & Air Shipper Insight.
Mega box ship orders add to overcapacity as rates tumble: Drewry
ATTEMPTS by carriers to reduce overcapacity are being undone as new orders for megaships continue, according to Drewry's monthly report Sea & Air Shipper Insight.
"The news that China Shipping Container Lines will join Maersk in the super-size containership club following board approval for five 18,000-TEU ships is further proof of the demand for these fuel-efficient ULCVs [ultra large containerships] among the major lines - it is just a question of when and how many will make the leap," said the report by London's Drewry's Maritime Research.
"Ocean carriers did a decent job over the winter months balancing supply to ensure that freight rates remained relatively firm, but the delivery of big new ships - leading to new services and upgrades of existing loops - will mean lines will find that task increasingly difficult for the remainder of 2013," said Drewry research manager Simon Heaney.
"These new orders and speculation of more to come could be having a negative impact on rates right now. Carriers cannot shift the paradigm from the supply pressure they are facing so that they can get rates moving upwards again," he said.
Ocean freight rates continue to fall with Drewry's east-west index contracting by 5.6 per cent month to month in March.
Similarly, air freight rates fell in March following February's short-lived recovery as the traditional spring season sales rush in Northern hemisphere markets failed to materialise. Drewry's east-west air freight price index slid 5.3 points in March to 96.9 points, weighed down by sharp falls in pricing from Shanghai to both North America and Europe.
