In the fourth part of our shipping market outlook series we are focusing on the outlook for the shipbuilding sector in the second half of 2023 with Maritime Strategies International (MSI) Managing Director Adam Kent.
You can listen to the full interview as a podcast in the player above
Has the slide in newbuilding orders seen in 2022 continued into this year?
“It very much depends on what quarter you put under the microscope for this year, we look at Q1 2023 recorded the most contracts that we've seen in the single quarter since Q2 2022. The growth there or the volumes there were the age of favourites container ships and LNG, there seems to be an insatiable appetite for ordering large container ships and LNG and that certainly started the year off,” Kent tells the Seatrade Maritime Podcast.
“In Q2 of this year, we did see a reduction in ordering volumes for many sectors,” he says. This was not the case for LNG vessels but there were fewer orders for containerships. However, he adds, “But that's not to say that we expect the containership contracting binge to stop.”
Are dormant shipyards being reactivated to meet demand?
“This is an interesting point and, it's one that we've been banging the drum on for the last 10 years since we saw the mothballing of a lot of shipyards. We've always said that when the when the time is right when ordering volumes increase when prices go up, we expect to see a lot of shipyard capacity, come back online,” Kent says.
“We've recorded around 10 yards, we think that have come back online over the course of the last year in some shape or form.”
What is the newbuilding ordering outlook like for the second half of 2023?
“We're actually forecasting some significant volumes containerships be ordered in the second half of the year, most of these will be dual fuel,” Kent says.
MSI also expects tanker orders to continue to increase compared to recent history. The analyst is also seeing the first signs of offshore vessels being ordered after a prolonged drought, something Kent says they are watching closely.
Listen to the full interview in the app of your choice below
