The views of the Publishers do not necessarily correspond to the views of Lambos Maritime Overseas Ltd. Republished by kind permission of: A&A Thorpe, 131a Furtherwick Canvey Island, Essex SS8 7AT Tel: +44 (0) 1268 511300 Fax: +44 (0) 1268 510467 shipaat@aol.com Beleaguered ship owners received no let-up this week as shipping accountants and consultancy firm Moore Stephens published figures showing likely rising trends in ship operating costs this year and next. Costs have continued to climb across the board through the course of 2011, according to Moore Stephens, and are likely to register an average 3.8% hike for all main ship types by the year end. This figure compares with 2.2% in 2010. Costs are likely to continue rising through 2012, the survey predicts, with a similar increase of 3.7% expected over the year. Moore Stephens received responses from no fewer than 351 respondents, mostly in Europe and Asia. Owners and managers represented the single largest contact group – 71% in total and 39% and 32% respectively – whilst charterers/operators, brokers and professional advisors also responded to the survey. Repairs and maintenance are likely to have risen by an average of 2.8% in 2011, according to the respondents, and are projected to climb by a further 2.6% over the next year. Drydocking costs, meanwhile, will probably have risen by an average of 2.4% this year and are likely to rise by a similar amount over 2012. Large increases of 3.1% in crew wages in each of 2011 and 2012 bear out the tight demand supply balance of seafarers while a 3.6% hike in lube oil costs and a further 3.1% next year reflect continuing high oil prices. A number of respondents to the survey were gloomy about shipping’s general outlook. They were concerned about overtonnaging and weak rates in the freight and charter markets. “Overcapacity and new building deliveries involving larger tonnage on the main routes will maintain downward pressure on rates,” commented one, whilst another noted that there was “no sign of resolving the overtonnaging problems in the dry bulk sector.” These pressures and “depressed charter rates will lead owners to seek in vain to minimise operating costs,” another commented. Moore Stephens’ shipping partner Richard Greiner...
Read MoreThe views of the Publishers do not necessarily correspond to the views of Lambos Maritime Overseas Ltd. Republished by kind permission of: A&A Thorpe, 131a Furtherwick Canvey Island, Essex SS8 7AT Tel: +44 (0) 1268 511300 Fax: +44 (0) 1268 510467 shipaat@aol.com It is a strange feature of international shipping that its fortunes can be transformed, virtually overnight, by exterior factors such as geopolitical events and natural disasters. The closure of Suez, for example, proved a catalyst in the rapid development of VLCC trades round the Cape, whilst Iranian sanctions continue to keep one of the world’s largest sources of natural gas closed to most of the world. So far this year, we have seen the dire effects of floods in various regions, as well as a changing emphasis in Asian energy shipments as a result of the Fukushima disaster. Now, as 2012 draws close, some are questioning the likely repercussions of the deepening debt crisis in Europe. It is banks in this region which are the principal lenders to much of the shipping industry. Sure, Chinese financial institutions are grabbing a bigger slice of the ship finance pie, but usually only when there is a Chinese connection in one way or another. There are prominent lenders in Japan too, and in Singapore and the US. But it is Europe’s banks who still feature as the single largest lending group. A number of European financial institutions have recently indicated, some more publicly than others, that they plan to reduce their exposure to shipping. Banks’ credit committees get spooked by asset values which shoot up and down too much and can be directly influenced by uncontrollable events. And, as asset values continue to crash, loan covenants fall into technical default and become a growing headache for so-called “risk managers” who have to deal with problem loans. The number of these is increasing across most shipping sectors. With a few small exceptions such as the LNG sector, and certain small niches in the bulk carrier and small tanker markets, there is widescale overtonnaging that has forced rates down below breakeven in some instances, causing ship values to crash and bank security packages to become virtually meaningless. Yet very few shipowners...
Read MoreThe views of the Publishers do not necessarily correspond to the views of Lambos Maritime Overseas Ltd. Republished by kind permission of: A&A Thorpe, 131a Furtherwick Canvey Island, Essex SS8 7AT Tel: +44 (0) 1268 511300 Fax: +44 (0) 1268 510467 shipaat@aol.com International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens says total annual operating costs in the shipping industry increased by an average 2.2% in 2010. This compares with the 2.0% average fall in costs recorded for the previous year, which was the first time since 2002 that operating costs had fallen. All cost categories showed an overall increase this time, with the exception of stores and insurance – with the latter falling by 4.7% overall. The findings are set out in OpCost 2011, Moore Stephens’ unique ship operating costs benchmarking tool, which reveals that all individual categories of vessel covered by the research, with the exception of handy-size product tankers, experienced an increase in total operating costs in 2010, the financial year covered by the survey. Costs for the three main sectors covered – bulkers, tankers and container ships – were all up. The bulker index increased by 5 points (or 2.9%) on a year-on-year basis, while the tanker index witnessed a two index point (1.1%) rise. Meanwhile, the container ship index (with a 2002 base year, as opposed to 2000 for the other two vessel classes) was up three index points, or 1.9%. The corresponding figures in last year’s OpCost report showed falls in the bulker, tanker and container ship indexes of 1, 5 and 13 points respectively. There was a 3.2% overall increase in 2010 crew costs compared to the 2009 figure, which itself represented the most moderate increase for a number of years. In 2008, the report revealed a 21% increase in this category. Tankers overall experienced increases in crew costs of 2.7% on average, compared to 2.5% in 2009. For bulkers, meanwhile, the overall increase in crew costs was 4.0%, while for container ships it was 2.9%. For repairs and maintenance, there was an overall increase in costs of 4.5%, compared to the 11.3% decrease recorded for 2009. The biggest increase here was the 8.0% recorded in the container ship category. For bulkers the...
Read MoreVessel’s Particulars: Loa: 224.99m Br: 32.20m Dwt: 75941t Main Items of her DD/Repairs: Drydocking Cargo Holds Blasting & Painting Steel Renewals ZHOUSHAN IMC YY SHIPYARD & ENGINEERING Co., Ltd, is a joint-venture between IMC Singapore and Chinese Shipbuilding interests operates Facilities for Shiprepairs and Drydockings. The Yard is located in Zhoushan Area with direct access from the Open Sea avoiding navigation in Rivers, and consequent delays etc. for the Vessel. Facilities include: (1) Graving docks: Nr.1 L: 350m, Br: 65m – Nr.2 L: 251m, Br: 39m (2) Dock crane : 40T ? 1set, 25T ? 2sets (3) Wharf :about 1000 m length with shore cranes 40T?1set & 25T ? 1set (4) Gantry Cranes : 50T ? 1set, 30T ?...
Read MoreVessel’s Particulars: Loa: 331.30m Br: 57.03m Dwt: 246739t Features: Anchor Substitution SINGATAC ENGINEERING PTE Ltd operates a large covered Workshop as well as an open Fabrication yard with various lathes etc, a CNC plate cutting machine, a plate bending & rolling machine, a 300 ton hydraulic press, a 1,000 ton hydraulic press besides various other types of equipment. Also they operate a waterfront Fabrication yard with water frontage of 100 meters. It is ideal for fabrication of heavy and oversize items which cannot be transported by road. Additionally they operate a new Facility in Bintan, Indonesia infront of Lobam Anchorage for Afloat and Alongside...
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