News
Global container throughput is projected to increase 7.2% year on year to 163 million TEUs in 2011, according to an annual report on the containership market released on Nov. 21, 2011 by Nippon Yusen Kaisha （NYK）’s Research Group.
Meanwhile, overall tonnage is expected to swell 9.6% to 15,441,000 TEUs, which would be provided with 5,103 containerships.
NYK said that growth in tonnage supply would exceed that in container demand for the first time in two years.
Currently, shipping companies are rationalizing services, operating ships at lower speeds, laying up vessels and making other efforts to control tonnage supply to deal with sluggish container movement and deteriorating market conditions, mainly on east-west trades.
The Research Group does not foresee that global container shipments will increase remarkably, hindered by the ongoing financial crisis in Europe.
In addition, it is scheduled that large containership newbuildings will be deployed in services on the Asia/Europe trade, and that excess tonnage will be relocated to other trades.
As such, the group anticipates that all shipping lanes will suffer from oversupply.
As of the end of August 2011, global tonnage amounted to 14,991,000 TEUs, up 8% from a year earlier, which were provided with 5,008 containerships, according to the NYK report, which is entitled “World Containership Fleet and its Operation.”
In breakdown, containerships of 10,000 TEUs and over numbered 101, the total capacity of which was 1,283,000 TEUs, up 95%; those of 8,000-9,999 TEUs, 279, 2,386,000 TEUs, up 10%; and those of 5,000-7,999 TEUs, 542, 3,221,000 TEUs, up 6%.
It was revealed that growth in container tonnage was greater among larger containerships.
On the other hand, the combined tonnage provided with containerships of less than 5,000 TEUs, many of which had been demolished, remained unchanged from a year earlier.
