However, by the end of the year the fleet had grown by less than six per cent. How was such a massive orderbook reduced by such a dramatic figure?
Today in The Container Shipping Manager we will take a look at how shipping lines managed to reduce the rate at which the industry's supply was growing, and also where that leaves the industry as a whole now.
For the better part of the past decade carriers were enjoying what some have referred to as the golden age in container shipping. Vessel operators were raking in huge sums of money as demand for shipping services, fuelled by a burgeoning export market out of China, grew by an average of 10 per cent per annum.
The only problem was that at times there was simply not enough capacity to handle the demand.
Thanks to massive surpluses in profits, shipping lines were able to focus less on the task of making a profit and more on how to ensure even greater profits in the future.
This led to the biggest splurge on shipping assets ever witnessed, as shipyards were inundated with calls for new vessel orders.
Part of this also included a belief that carriers could make even more money by opting for bigger vessels. The result of this was a spending spree on bigger, faster and more efficient vessels.
Due to the solid and consistent profits, which it was believed would continue at least until 2010, orders from carriers and non-operating owners were coming thick and fast.
In fact, some shipping analysts back in 2007 had warned the industry that if vessel owners did not hurry up and order more vessels for delivery in 2009 that there would be a shortage.
Source : TCSM, 17.06.10.
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