Ship owners hesitant to place new orders
Latest figures from Clarkson Research Services show the huge hesitancy among owners to place orders this year.
Describing newbuilding contracting in the year to date as “subdued”, Clarkson data carried in its latest weekly report shows that 708 new vessels have been reported in 2019 to date, a year-on-year decline of 40% on an annualized basis.
Commenting on the ordering plunge, Dr Martin Stopford, president of Clarkson Research Services, told Splash today that the potential avalanche of regulations coming shipping’s way was holding the industry back from committing to new vessels.
“We are in a unique position. Shipyards are gagging for orders and yet owners are gagged as they do not know if ships will be able to trade through their entire economic life,” Stopford said.
In a recently concluded survey carried on this site, regulatory concern was cited as a distant second to the unstable nature of the markets for the current ordering impasse.
