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Cargo owners will drive next wave of ship orders: LR

Cargo owners will drive next wave of ship orders: LR

Qingdao: Shipping's next wave of orders are likely to come more from the cargo owners, rather than independent owners. That's the view from Tom Boardley, the recently installed marine director at British classification society, Lloyd's Register. Whereas the previous shipping boom, which came to shuddering halt in September 2008, was driven by independent owners, Boardley contends that the next ordering cycle will be driven by cargo owners, who have recent painful memories of the sky high charter market. 'They are now saying to themselves they want to control more of their assets,' he told Seatrade Asia Online on the sidelines of this year's COSCO-organised World Shiping Summit in Qingdao. 'The next stage of growth will be taken by the cargo owners,' he said, citing Brazilian mining giant Vale's series of VLOC orders as a good example. While Korea has seen no uptick in ship orders - 'so they are now focusing on offshore' - Boardley said, 'We are seeing the orderbook for ships in China replenishing.'  [12/11/09]