THE time is fast approaching when it will make no sense to build bigger ships, says Olaf Merk, ports and shipping administrator of the International Transport Forum, a unit of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
He was speaking on the sidelines of a lecture he delivered at the Ministry of National Development auditorium, organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Centre for Liveable Cities.
Increasing ship capacity from 19,000 TEU to 24,000 TEU would only cut costs five per cent, which he said was relatively marginal, reported Singapore's Business Times.
Carriers were having difficulty filling their gargantuan vessels, with a capacity oversupply of about 20-30 per cent, he said. "Certainly we're close to that point of optimal ship size."
Container lines have sought to lower the average cost of transporting each box by building bigger ships to access economies of scale.
The biggest ship in the world right now can carry slightly over 19,000 TEU, but analysts warn that even larger ones are on the horizon.
Ports have scrambled to cope with this trend, and Mr Merk noted that big ships "only make sense if the handling time is very quick".
OPINION
24 June 2015 - 21:04
Mega ship trend closes in on limits to vessel size, says OECD expert
THE time is fast approaching when it will make no sense to build bigger ships, says Olaf Merk, ports and shipping administrator of the International Transport Forum, a unit of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
OPINION
24 June 2015 - 21:04
Mega ship trend closes in on limits to vessel size, says OECD expert
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