Statistical Publications

Shipping Statistics
and Market Review
Volume 56 No 5/6 - 2012

Market Review
Analytical Focus
World Merchant Fleet
World Tanker Market
World Bulk Carrier Market
World Container and General Cargo Shipping
World Merchant Fleet by Ownership Patterns
World Passenger and Cruise Shipping/
ISL Cruise Fleet Register
World Shipbuilding and Shipbuilders
Major Shipping Nations
World Seaborne Trade and World Port Traffic

Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics

ISL Shipping Statistics and Market Review (SSMR)

Volume 56 - 2012
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Comment - World Container and General Cargo Shipping

www.isl.org

This short comment is an excerpt from the Analytical Comment published in the
ISL Shipping Statistics and Market Review (SSMR) No 5/6 2012.

The SSMR includes detailed statistical information concerning the analytical focus
and provides approx. 30 monthly/quarterly market indicators (Market Review).
For more information compare attached contents

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SSMR May/June 2012

Contents World Container and General Cargo Shipping

www.isl.org
Page

ISL Comment

5-16

(1) WORLD CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO FLEET DEVELOPMENT 2011/2012

1.1
1.2

World Cellular Container Fleet ....................................................................

World General Cargo Fleet .........................................................................

5
8

(2) FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO MARKET

2.1
2.2
2.3.
2.4.

Major World Trade Developments 2011/2012 ..............................................

Global Insight Short Term Container Trade Outlook ...................................
World Container Port Traffic Regional Highlights 2011 ................................
The Container Market - Rates and Prices .....................................................

10
11
11
12

(3) FUTURE CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO TONNAGE SUPPLY .................................................................. 14

(4) THE SHIPBUILDING MARKET FOR CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO SHIPS
4.1
4.2

New Orders and Order Book Development ................................................... 14

Leading Shipbuilding Countries .................................................................. 15

COMMENT - SUMMARY TABLES

Tab. 1

World Container Fleet Additions/Reductions 2006, 2010 and 2011

Tab. 2

World Fully Cellular Container Fleet and Order Book by TEU-Size Class 2012

Tab. 3

World Container Fleet Registered for Panama and Liberia According to Countries of Domicile

Tab. 4

World Container Fleet Controlled Tonnage of Major Shipping Nations 2008-2012

Tab. 5

World Container Fleet by Major Operators 2008 and 2012

2008, 2010-2012

..............................
..................

..................................................................................................

5
6
6

..........

............................................

Tab. 6

World General Cargo Fleet Development by Ship Type 2008 and 2012

Tab. 7

World Merchandise Trade by Region and Selected Countries 2011

.................................

...........................

8
8

Tab. 8

Value of Imports and Exports of the Top Trading Countries 2011

..................................

Tab. 9

Five Largest Container Exporting Nations 2009-2012

..................................................

Tab. 10

TEU-Ranking of the Top 20 World Container Ports in 2011

........................................... 10

Tab. 11

Container Traffic of World Ports by Geographical Distribution 2011

Tab. 12

Container Ship Order Book Delivery Schedule by Major Countries of Build 2011

................................ 10
............ 13

COMMENT - FIGURES
Fig. 1

World Container Fleet Annual Tonnage Changes 1996-2012

Fig. 2

World Container Fleet Tonnage Additions and Reductions 1996-2011

......................................
..........................

..........................................................

5
5

Fig. 3

World Container Fleet Development 1986-2012

Fig. 4

World Fully Cellular Container Fleet TEU-Size Structure 2002-2012

Fig. 5

World Fully Cellular Container Fleet Ship Size Development 2002-2012

.......................

Fig. 6

TEU-Capacity of Top Ranking ContainerShip Operators 2008-2012

................................

................................

............................

Fig. 7

World General Cargo Fleet - Annual Tonnage changes 1996-2012

Fig. 8

World General Cargo Fleet Tonnage Additions and Reductions 1996-2012

Fig. 9

World total Trade by Commodity Group 2011

Fig. 10

World total Trade of Manufactured Goods by Product Group 2011

....................

.............................................................
.................................

Fig. 11

World Trade (Value Related) and World Container Port Traffic (TEU-based) 1988-2010

Fig. 12

Container Port Traffic by Region 2011

....

5
6

8
9
9
9

....................................................................... 10

Fig. 13

Monthly Container Traffic of Selected Ports by Region 2001-2011

Fig. 14

Monthly HARPEX Container Charter Rate Index 2006 up to April 2012

................................. 11

Fig. 15

German Sea Freight Indices 2006 up to March 2012 .................................................... 12

........................... 12

Fig. 16

Second Hand Prices for 5 Years Old Container Ships 2006-2012 by TEU-Size Classes

....... 12

Fig. 17

Newbuilding Contracting Prices for Container Ships 2006-2012 by TEU-Size Classes

........ 12

Fig. 18

World Container Fleet New Orders and Broken-up Tonnage, Quarterly 2006-2012

........ 13

Fig. 19

World Container and General Cargo Order Book, Quarterly 2006-2012

SSMR May/June 2012

.......................... 13

Contents World Container and General Cargo Shipping

www.isl.org
Page

ISL InfoLine Special

17-22

(1) ONLINE INFORMATION COMPILED FROM LEADING INDUSTRY SOURCES (2) ISL SEABASE NEW LITERATURE

ISL Statistical Tables

................................... 17

23-50

(1) WORLD CONTAINER FLEET

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.11.1
1.11.2

Key Figures on the World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by TEU-Size Class 2012 ..............
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet Development 2001-2012 .......................................
Additions to the World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by Country of Domicile 2006-2011 ...
Additions to the World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by TEU-Size Class 2006-2011 ..........
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by Major Flags 2011 and 2012 ...............................
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by Country of Domicile 2012 .................................
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by dwt-Size Class and Division of Age 2012 ..............
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by TEU-Size Class and Division of Age 2012 .............
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet by dwt-Size Class and TEU-Capacity 2012 and
Order Book as of January 1st, 2012 ..........................................................................
World Fully Cellular Container Fleet Size Dimensions 2012 ........................................
Container Fleet by Operators as of February 2012 ......................................................
Top 15 Container Operators ....................................................................................
The Global Players .................................................................................................

23
23
24
24
25
26
27
27

Key Figures on the General Cargo Fleet by Type and dwt-Size Class 2012 ......................
General Cargo Fleet Development by Ship Type 2003-2012 .........................................
General Cargo Fleet by Major Flags 2011 and 2012 .....................................................
General Cargo Fleet by Country of Domicile 2012 ......................................................
General Cargo Fleet by Ship Type and Top Ten Countries of Domicile 2012 .....................
General Cargo Ships by Type and Divison of Age and Order Book 2012 .........................
World General Cargo Fleet by dwt-Size Class and Division of Age 2012 ..........................
General Cargo Ships Size Dimensions 2012 ............................................................
Additions to the World General Cargo Fleet by Country of Domicile 2008-2011 ................

30
30
31
33
33
34
34
35
35

28
28
29
29
29

(2) WORLD GENERAL CARGO FLEET

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9

(3) BROKEN-UP CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO SHIPS

3.1
3.2

Broken-up Container and General Cargo Ships by Major Types 2001-2011 ..................... 36
Broken-up Container and General Cargo Ships by Major Flags 2001-2011 ...................... 36

(4) WORLD TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND WORLD CONTAINER PORT TRAFFIC

4.1
4.2
4.2.1
4.2.2
4.2.3
4.2.4
4.2.5
4.2.6
4.3
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.3.3

World Merchandise Trade by Region and Selected Countries 2010 and 2011 ...................
Leading Importers and Exporters of Manufactures by Main Commodity Categories 2010 ..
Iron and Steel .......................................................................................................
Chemicals ............................................................................................................
Pharmaceuticals ....................................................................................................
Office and Telecom Equipment .................................................................................
Automotive Products ..............................................................................................
Office and EDC ......................................................................................................
World Container Port Traffic ....................................................................................
World Container Port Traffic by Country 2004-2011 ....................................................
World Container Port Traffic of Selected Ports by Region 2006-2011 ..............................
Container Traffic of Selected Ports by Share of Loading and Unloading Regions 2011 .......

37
38
38
38
39
39
40
40
41
41
42
44

(5) WORLD SHIPBUILDING CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO SHIPS ON ORDER

5.1
5.2
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.3.3
5.4
5.5

Existing World Container and General Cargo Fleet by Major Areas of Build 2012 ..............
Container Ships on Order ..........................................................................................
Container Ships on Order and New Orders by Type 2008-2012, Quarterly .........................
Container Ships on Order by Top Countries of Build and TEU-Size Class 2012 ..................
Container Ships on Order by Major Countries of Build and Delivery Schedule 2012 ..........
Container Ships on Order by Ship Yard and Delivery Schedule 2012 .................................
General Cargo Ships on Order ....................................................................................
General Cargo Ships on Order and New Orders by Type 2008-2012, Quarterly...................
General Cargo Ships on Order by Major Countries of Build and Delivery Schedule 2012 .......
General Cargo Ships on Order by Ship Yard and Type 2012 ............................................
New Container and General Cargo Ship Orders by Major Countries of Build 2007-2011 .......
New Container and General Cargo Ship Orders by Major Countries of Domicile 2007-2011...

ISL Market Review

46
46
46
47
47
47
48
48
48
48
49
50

52-78

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

Fig. 1:

WORLD CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO FLEET

DEVELOPMENT 2011/2012

Until mid-2011, the charter rates have benefited from the

market recovery. In the second half the rates have fallen back
to the level of mid-2009. The large number of additions to
the fleet in the upper size segment has accelerated the
cascade effect, creating pressure on rates in all size
segments and crowding out smaller units. At the same time,
the slowdown of growth in many industrialised countries led
to a deceleration of demand for capacity.
About 1.2 million TEU of container ship capacity came
into service in 2011, thereof 0.6 million TEU of very large
Post-Panamax ships (more than 10,000 TEU). As of
January 1st, 2012, the fully cellular container fleet
comprised 4,993 ships with 15.3 million TEU, a rise of 8.7
per cent compared to a year earlier (see Figure 1).
At the same time, the size of the general cargo fleet
decreased by 1.6 per cent compared with 2011 and
comprised 16,822 ships with 105 million dwt and 2.2
million TEU of capacity at the beginning of 2012.
1.1
1.1.1

World cellular container fleet

13.8

11.6

11.4
9.4

10.0

13.5

13.1

12.9

12.8
9.5

9.0

6.4

7.5

8.7

5.8

5.0
2.5
0.0
1998

Fig. 2:

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

World container fleet tonnage additions and reductions

1997 2011 (mill. dwt)

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Additions
Reductions

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Container fleet development 2011/2012

Fleet development trends can be summarised as follows:

Between the beginning of 2008 and 2012, the

container fleet expanded on average by 9.2 per cent
per year in terms of TEU, and the number of
container ships by 4.1 per cent.

During the years 2007-2011, 1,570 container ships

with 656 million TEU and 80.1 million dwt were
added to the trading fleet. During the same period, at
least 412 container ships with 0.7 million TEU and
11.0 million dwt were reported as broken up.

The 194 new deliveries in 2011 comprised 109 PostPanamax vessels, thereof 46 Ultra Large Container
Ships (ULCS) with a capacity of more than 10,000
TEU

Ships added to the world container fleet during 2011

represent 3.8 per cent of all fully cellular container
ships, 7.4 per cent of the deadweight tonnage and 8.0
per cent of the TEU capacity of the active container
fleet at the beginning of 2012.

According to Alphaliner, the idle containership fleet

dropped to 560,000 TEU mid of May 2012 from
900,000 TEU in mid-March. For comparison, only 63

16.3

12.5

Tab. 1:

Due to cancellations, conversions and delays, only 1.2

million TEU of additional container ship capacity came
into service in 2011 the planned deliveries amounted to
about 2 million TEU. In the same period, tonnage with a
capacity of only 82,000 TEU was removed from the
market. At the beginning of 2012, the container fleet
comprised 4,993 ships with 16.3 million TEU, up 8.7per
cent since the start of the year (after 9.5 per cent in 2010).
The idle container fleet increased by 82 per cent during
2011 to capacity of 595,000 TEU at the start of 2012.

16.5

15.0

TEU %-change

Overcapacity and declining rates characterized container

shipping in 2011.

World container fleet annual tonnage changes

as of January 1st, 1998 2012 (TEU- %)
17.5

mill dwt

World container fleet additions/reductions 2007, 2010

and 2011

TEU-% av. TEU %

2007
2010
2011
growth
No 1000 No 1000 No 1000 change
'07 - '11
TEU
TEU
TEU '10 - '11
Additions to fleet
410 1313 273 1371 194 1229
-10.4
-1.7
Reductions from fleet
24
26 99 170
57
82
-51.9
32.8
2008
2011
2012
Total Fleet as of
Jan. 1st.
4259 10760 4882 14071 4993 15297
8.7
9.2

Fig. 3: World container fleet development as of

January 1st, 1986 2012 (Index 1986 = 100)
1600

No

1400

mill dwt

1000 TEU

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Sources:

If not otherwise mentioned, the source for tables and figures concerning
the world merchant fleet, special ship type features and order book
information is ISL based on IHS Fairplay, please quote accordingly. In
general merchant fleet data refer to ships of 300 gt and over.

Explanatory notes:

The total container fleet includes only fully cellular container ships.
General cargo ships The specification of sub-types (see table left side) is
based on the classification provided by IHS Fairplay.

Tonnage additions/reductions:

Additions entering the fleet refer to the fleet data of the following year.
Reductions refer to the fleet data of the respective year.

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

units with a capacity of 80,000 TEU were reported as
idle by end of May 2011.

Fig. 4:

World fully cellular container fleet TEU-size structure

January 1st, 2002 - 2012 (1000 TEU)
TEU size class

Size dimensions of the world container fleet

1.1.3

10000 and over

8000-10000

6000-8000

16.0

4000-6000

2000-4000

<2000

14.0
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
2002

Tab. 2:

< 999
1000 < 1999
2000 < 3999
4000 < 5999
6000 < 7999
8000 < 9999
>= 10000
Total
Fig. 5:

World container fleet by country of domicile

177.2
13.8

German shipping lines lead the container sector by far with

5.1 million TEU, followed by Japan (1.2 million TEU) and
Denmark (1.1 million TEU). Table 3 illustrates the average
TEU growth for the leading shipping nations within the
period 2008-2012. The TEU capacity for Germany
increased on average by 7.1 per cent in the mentioned
period. Other countries with strong growth were France
(20.7 per cent), Canada (23.3 per cent) and South Korea
(17.7 per cent).
Leading container operators 2012

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

No

Order book

1000 share of
TEU
total

1099
662
1286 1826
1046 2954
921 4381
250 1663
280 2405
111 1406
4993 15297

4.3
11.9
19.3
28.6
10.9
15.7
9.2
100.0

1000
No TEU

share of
total

32
21
87 120
89 286
110 508
42 288
106 929
165 2204
631 4356

0.5
2.7
6.6
11.7
6.6
21.3
50.6
100.0

World fully cellular container fleet average ship size

development January 1st, 1988 - 2012 (dwt/TEU)
4000

dwt

35000

TEU

3500

30000

3000

25000

2500

20000

2000

15000

1500

10000

1000
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Fig. 6:

Idle container fleet as of January 1st, 2008, - May, 1st, 2012

1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0

The market share of the top 15 carriers continued to grow

in 2011. According to MDS Transmodal, as of February
2012, the top 15 container operators controlled approx.
10.4 million TEU which account for 70.7 per cent of the
global TEU capacity (container ships above 1,000 TEU).

2006

dwt

Mill. TEU

66.2 70.2 70.3

86.4 112.6 124.2
6.5
8.7
9.7

2005

40000

National flag
Foreign flag
TOTAL
2008 2011 2012 2008 2011 2012 2012
TEU %-share 33.8 29.8 29.7
mill dwt
44.9 49.1 52.9
mill TEU
3.3 3.7 4.1

2004

World fully cellular container fleet and order book by

TEU-size class as of January 1st, 2012

TEU Size
class

World container fleet by registered flags

The country of domicile analysis (including container

ships of 1,000 gt and over) shows that at the beginning of
2012, 70.3 per cent of the container capacity was not
registered in the country of domicile of the owner, but
flagged out. The development of the container fleet
registered under national and foreign flag is shown in the
following table, representing results at the beginning of
2008, 2011 and 2012.

2003

Fleet

Ownership patterns of the world container fleet

Just like in the other fleet segments, large shares of the fully
cellular container fleet are attributable to open registry
flags. At the beginning of 2012, the top ten open registry
flags held 55.4 per cent of the world container capacity
(TEU), nearly the same share than five years ago (53.4 per
cent). Liberia is in lead with 975 container ships and 3.4
million TEU, which is equal to 22.3 per cent of the total
TEU capacity. Panama ranks second with 738 vessels (2.9
million TEU).

18.0

TEU

The sizes of newly delivered container ships continued to

grow in 2011. The average capacity of the 194 new
container ships delivered in 2011 was 6,340 TEU, an
increase of 22 per cent over 2010. The average size of
container ships has more than doubled in 20 years. Since
August 2006, 111 Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCSs) of
over 10,000 TEU have been delivered, including 29 vessels
with capacities of 14,000 TEU and above. A further 165
vessels with capacities of more than 10,000 TEU are under
construction. The average size of cellular container ships in
the order book was 6,900 TEU in early 2012. The largest
container ships in service (Maersks E-class) are almost 400
metres long, 56 meters wide and have a design draft of 16
meters.

Mill. TEU

1.1.2

ISL 2012, based on AXS Alphaliner.

Fig. 7:

TEU-capacity of top ranking containership operators as of

2008 2012 (February, 1st)

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

1.2

World general cargo fleet

1.2.1

Comparing the total deadweight tonnage of January 1st,

2011 and 2012, the general cargo fleets capacity shrunk by
1.6 per cent. About 7.7 million were removed from the
fleet (demolitions and other withdrawals), while 5.8 million
dwt of new ships were delivered in 2011.
At the beginning of 2012, the total general cargo fleet
consisted of 16,822 ships with 105 million dwt. In
comparison, the order book amounted to 1,004 vessels
with 13.7 million dwt, equivalent to 13.0 per cent of the
fleet.
Since 2007, 2,746 general cargo ships with 26.6 million dwt
were added to the fleet and 2,387 ships with 19.7 million
dwt were reported as broken up.
The fleet analysis indicates that the general cargo fleet is
composed of various sub-types having their own
momentum in the market.
At the beginning of 2012, the following Special types
sub-types specified by IHS Fairplay can be distinguished:

10238
Single deck ships
2761
Multi deck ships
984
Reefer ships
1350
Ro/Ro cargo ships
Special ships
1489
of which
Vehicles carrier
805
107
Heavy load carrier
280
Fish/Live fish carrier
104
Livestock carrier
55
Pallets carrier
138
Other special types
Total General cargo
fleet

share
of

1000 share 1000 share av. ship

dwt of dwt TEU of TEU size (dwt)

60.9
16.4
5.8
8.0
8.9

60608
15746
5663
6140
17127

57.6 1427
15.0 419
5.4
64
5.8 209
16.3
73

4.8
0.6
1.7
0.6
0.3
0.8

12608
2700
406
587
164
662

12.0
2.6
0.4
0.6
0.2
0.6

16822 100.0 105284

2010

2011

2012

1500
1000
500
0
MaerskLine

MSC

CHKY
Alliance

Grand
Alliance

New World CMA-CGM Evergreen

Ships of 1,000 TEU and above; ISL based on MDS Transmodal

Fig. 8:
7.0
6.0

World general cargo fleet tonnage additions and

reductions 1997-2011 (mill. dwt)
Additions
Reductions

5.0
4.0
3.0

1.0

During the last decade the general cargo fleet tonnage has
remained relatively stable at a time when the container fleet
grew by about 140 per cent.

No

2009

2.0

General cargo fleet development 2010/2011

Ship Type

2008

2000

1000 TEU

The Danish Maersk Line operates a fleet of 529 vessels

with a capacity of 2.14 million TEU equal to 14.5 per cent
of the total world container fleet capacity, followed by
MSC with 1.86 million TEU (12.6 per cent) and the French
operator CMA-CGM with 1.17 million TEU (7.9 per cent).
Of the top operators, the highest TEU-based expansion
was reached by MSC with 60 per cent, followed by APL
(53 per cent), Hamburg Sd (49 per cent) and CMA-CGM
(46 per cent).
Charter activities are a determining factor of the container
shipping market. The analysis for February 2012 shows
that 47 per cent of the TEU-capacity of the world
container fleet equal to 1,953 container ships is attributable
to the container charter market.

2500

mill dwt

The Swiss operator MSC recorded the highest fleet growth

in the period 2008-2012 with 700,000 TEU to its fleet,
whereas the largest carrier, Maersk Line, increased its
capacity by 400,000 TEU.

65.1
19.1
2.9
9.5
3.3

5920
5703
5755
4548
11502

44
17
0
0
2
10

2.0
0.8
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.4

15662
25237
1449
5642
2979
4796

100.0 2193

100.0

6259

The yearly growth rate for multi-purpose/single-deck

ships in the period 2008-2012 stood at 4.2 per cent.

0.0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Tab. 3: World general cargo fleet development by ship type as of

January 1st, 2008 and 2012
2012

2008
Ship type

No

mill
dwt

No

mill
dwt

Single deck ships

9985 51.3 10238 60.6
Special ships
1389 14.0 1489 17.1
Multi deck ships
3834 24.2 2761 15.7
Ro/Ro cargo ships 1303
6.7 1350
6.1
Reefer ships
1136
6.6
984
5.7
TOTAL
17647 102.8 16822 105.3

Tab. 4:

Av. growth Average size

(1000 dwt)
rate '08-'12
No dwt 2008 2012
0.6 4.2
1.8 5.2
-7.9 -10.2
0.9 -2.0
-3.5 -3.9
-1.2 0.6

5.1
10.1
6.3
5.1
5.8
5.8

5.9
11.5
5.7
4.5
5.8
6.3

World merchandise trade by region and selected countries

2011 (bill US$ and %)
Exports
Imports
Value Annual % change Value Annual % change
Region/
2011 '06-'11 '10 '11 2011 '06-'11 '10 '11
Country
EU (27)
6029
5.4 12.0 17.1 6241
5.1 12.5 16.9
Germany 1474
5.7 13.3 16.2 1254
6.6 15.2 17.5
Africa
597 10.4 28.4 19.4
555 14.5 13.8 19.9
Asia
5534
9.9 30.3 9.2 5568 11.8 31.4 15.3
Japan
823
4.9 32.6 6.9
854
8.0 25.5 23.2
China
1899 17.2 31.3 20.3 1743 21.7 38.7 24.9
USA
1481
7.6 21.0 15.9 2265
3.3 22.6 15.1
Russian
Federation
522 11.7 31.9 30.5
323
4.1 24.1 -22.0
World
17779
8.0 21.7 16.7 18000
7.6 20.9 17.1

Source: WTO; World Trade Statistics 2012

Ship dimensions The largest container ships as of

April 1st, 2012

Maersk E-Class: 170,794 gt /156,907 dwt/ 12,508 TEU , L 398m/ B

56.4m/ D 16.0m Built: 08/2006, Flag: DIS, COD: Denmark; MSC
Daniela Class: 151,559gt /156,301dwt /14,000TEU, L 366/ B 16m
Built: 12/2008, Flag PAN.

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

2
2.1

In the same period, the fleet of multi-deck ships and

reefer vessels decreased by 10.2 per cent and 3.9 per
cent respectively.
Besides the single deck fleet, only the special fleet
segment (incl. car carriers and heavy load vessels)
shows a positive yearly growth with 5.2 per cent in
the period 2008-2012.

Fig. 9:

World total trade by commodity group 2011

(% share of value in US$)
Fuels and
mining
products
21.1%
Manufactures
70.9%

Agricultural
Products
9.5%

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CONTAINER AND GENERAL

CARGO MARKET

Major world trade developments 2011/2012

The World Trade Organisation (WTO, Press Release

658/2012) has just published their assessment of the world
trade development in 2011 and prospects for 2012. The most
relevant features for the seaborne trade development are
highlighted below.

After the already disappointing 5.0 per cent growth in

2011 the WTO expects an even lower growth of 3.7
per cent in 2012. There are several problems the
leading economies are struggling with, including the
European sovereign dept crisis and a recessive
industrial growth in China.

The outlook for the world trade has been damped by

number of post-2008 after-shocks the EU deptcrisis, the political upheaval in Arabia and Northern
Africa and some natural disasters and their impact
such as the Tsunami in Japan and big flooding in
South Asia.

Therefore, there may be a slowdown in global

merchandise trade volume growth of the mentioned
3.7 per cent in 2012, derived from a 2.1 per cent
growth in developed countries and 5.6 per cent in
developing ones.

Asia showed the fastest real export growth of any

region in 2012 with a plus of 6.6 per cent, headed by
India and China, whose exports to the rest of the
world each gained 16.1 per cent and 9.3 per cent,
respectively. Its quite remarkable that India was the
only country in Asia that showed a one-digit decrease
rate during the economic crisis.

Caused by the mentioned Tsunami and the nuclear

power plant disaster in Fukushima, both exports and
imports dipped by 0.5 per cent equal to the GDP.

Source: WTO; World Trade Statistics 2012

Fig.10:

World total trade of manufactured goods by product group

2011 (% share of value in US$)
Textiles
Clothing
Iron and steel
Other semi manufactured goods
Chemicals
Other machinery
Office and telecom equipment
0

10
20
30
% share of total manufactures

Source: WTO; World Trade Statistics 2012

Tab. 5:

Five largest container-exporting nations 2007-2011

(in mill. TEU)

Export
Country

thousands of TEUs
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

China
United States
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan

28.9
9.7
5.9
4.3
3.2

29.6
11.0
6.0
4.5
3.2

25.9
10.1
4.8
4.4
2.9

31.3
11.2
5.7
5.2
3.4

33.7
12.1
5.6
5.7
3.7

yearly growth
'09-'10 '10-'11
20.8
10.9
18.8
18.2
17.2

7.7
8.0
-1.8
9.6
8.8

Source: HIS Global Insight, Trends in the World Economy and Trade,
Volume 1/April 2012
Fig. 11: World trade (value related) and world container port traffic
(TEU-based) 1990-2011 (Index 1990=100)
700

Containertraffic (TEU)

600

World trade (Value, real)

500
400
300

2.2

World container port traffic regional

highlights 2009/2010

According to data published by the UN Infrastructure

Services Unit, the worldwide container traffic reached a total
of 564 million TEU in 2011, equal to a year on year growth
of 8.9 per cent. The ISL port data base covers more than 90
per cent (515 million TEU) of the global container port
traffic. ISL figures show a growth of 7.0 per cent in the
major container ports. This increase is mainly driven by
surging volumes at Far Eastern ports, whose container
throughput grew above average. Based on information from
HIS, 29 per cent of the worlds full container shipments
originate in China, and another 31 per cent in the total rest
of Asia.
Chinese ports (including Hong Kong) have increased their
container traffic by 11.1 per cent, pushing their world market

200
100
0
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

ISL Port Data Base and WTO; World Trade Statistics 2012

Explanatory note
Major Open Registries: Countries permitting the registration of ships
owned by non-residents. In general, ISL figures on open registry flags
are restricted to the top ten major flags: Panama, Liberia, Bahamas,
Malta, Marshall Islands, Cyprus, St. Vincent, Antigua & Barbuda,
Bermuda and Cayman Islands. (01.01.2012).
Country of registration and country of domicile: Country of
registration indicates the country of the port of registry of a country
(flag). The country of domicile indicates where the controlling interest of
the fleet is located in terms of the parent company. This information is
applicable to merchant fleet vessels of 1,000 gt and above.

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

share to 29 percent in 2011 up from 26.8 percent in 2009. Six
of the top ten container ports are located in China, with
most of those ports recording faster growth than ports in
other regions, while growth of the remaining regions in Asia
follows nearby. The total container traffic of the top 50 ports
listed in Tab. 4.3.3 on page 44 grew by 8.6 percent in 2011
with only Long Beach, Mina Raysut, Manila, Yokohama and
Nagoya suffering noteworthy losses.

Tab. 6: TEU-ranking of the top 20 world container ports in 2011

Ranking
2011 (2001) Port (Country)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

During 2011 only two of the ports showing increases of

more than 20 per cent were Chinese, namely the ports of
Dalian and Xiamen. The highest increase of all top 50 ports
was reached by the port of Kobe, skyrocketing by more than
one third up to 2.7 mill. TEU. Other ports with very good
results were located in Europe (Algeciras, +28.4 percent, St.
Petersburg +22.6 per cent and Bremen/Bremerhaven + 21.0
per cent). The highest TEU gain in the North American
market was reached by the ports of Savannah and New York
with a mere 4 per cent.
ISLs Monthly Container Port Monitor (MCPM) showed all
in all a heterogeneous development in 2012. The rally of the
MCPM World index ceased in April at 260.1 points, nearly
the same than one year before, after having jumped up to
267 in July 2011 and sagging down to 223 points at the
turning of the year. Generally spoken, the MCPM indicates
that international trade was moving with no clear trend. In
line with the recent expansion of Chinese foreign trade, it
was first and foremost the Asian ports which were driving
the 2012 improvement.
2.3

mill TEU

(5)
(2)
(1)
(8)
(3)
(50)
(31)
(17)
(13)
(6)
(26)
(4)
(12)
(9)
(11)
(7)
(47)
(49)
(10)
(15)

2001 2010

Shanghai (China, PR of)

6.3 29.0
Singapore (Singapore)
15.6 26.0
Hong Kong (China, PR of) 17.8 23.7
Shenzhen (China, PR of)
5.1 22.3
Busan (Korea, Rep. of)
8.0 14.2
Ningbo (China, PR of)
1.2 13.1
Guangzhou (China, PR of) 1.7 12.5
Qingdao (China, PR of)
2.6 12.0
Dubai Ports (UAE)
3.5 11.6
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
6.1 11.1
Tianjin (China, PR of)
2.0 10.1
Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
7.5 9.2
Port Kelang (Malasyia)
3.8 8.9
Hamburg (Germany)
4.7 7.9
Antwerp (Belgium)
4.2 8.5
Los Angeles (US)
5.6 7.8
Xiamen (China, PR of)
1.3 5.2
Dalian (China, PR of)
1.2 5.2
Long Beach (US)
4.5 6.3
Bremen Ports (Germany)
3.0 4.9

TEU %- growth
2010- 20012011 2011
2011
31.7
29.9
24.4
22.6
16.2
14.7
14.3
13.0
12.6
11.9
11.6
9.6
9.4
9.0
8.7
7.9
6.5
6.4
6.1
5.9

9.4
15.1
2.9
1.0
14.0
12.6
14.2
8.4
9.0
6.6
15.0
5.0
6.4
14.2
2.3
1.4
24.1
22.1
-3.2
21.0

17.5
6.8
3.2
16.1
7.3
28.4
23.4
17.3
13.7
6.9
19.1
2.5
9.6
6.8
7.5
3.5
17.4
18.1
3.1
7.1

ISL Port Data Base 2012

Fig. 12: World container port traffic by continents 2011 (TEU-%
share)
Oceania Africa
4%
2%

America
15%

Europe
18%

The general cargo and container market rates

and prices

General cargo shipping

While the number of infrastructure projects shows growing

tendencies for example in the offshore supply sector or in
developing countries and emerging markets, there will be
requirements to transport specialised or project cargoes in
the medium term. Charter rates for a 9,000 dwt MPP-vessel
declined by around 5.2 per cent during the last quarter 2011
rates were around US$/day 5,800 at the beginning of 2012
and around US$/day 6,400 two years ago.
Container charter rates

After a very disillusioning second half of 2011, container

operators felt in the doldrums, with the HARPEX
Containership index not being far from the disastrous levels
of 2009, despite a rising demand of manufactured goods in
Europe and the Americas as well as a good investment
climate. Driving factor for this downward trend was without
any doubt the growth of capacity that outstripped the
positive world trade development. The size classes above
7000 TEU are particularly affected. Since all possibilities with
regard to slow steaming have been maxed out, the delivery of

Asia
61%

ISL Port Data Base 2012

Fig. 13: Monthly HARPEX container charter rate index 2008 up to
March 2012
1500.0
1250.0

HARPEX Index

In contrast to the other shipping sectors, the general cargo

and in particular the heavy lift and MPP sectors are less
cyclical, as the shipped goods are to a large part capital
intensive goods (such as power stations and other large
machineries). These goods need a relatively long scheduling.
Consequently rates and demand for ship tonnage decreased
with a time lack to the global economic crisis. Moreover the
market has to absorb a large portion of new ships and as a
result owners had to struggle for charters.

1000.0
750.0
500.0
250.0
0.0
Jan. 08 Jul

Jan. 09 Jul

Jan. 10 Jul

Jan. 11 Jul

Jan. 12

ISL based on Harper Petersen & Co

The ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor

is continuously highlighting the container traffic (TEU) of the worlds

major container ports. The MCPM is a short-term market indicator on
world container traffic and a benchmarking tool for the port industry
Information is presented in form of monthly indices and quarterly TEUtraffic aggregates. Indices have been provided since January 2000 for
the top American, Asian, and European/Oceanian ports. The monitor is
distributed quarterly as online service.

For more information please see www.isl.org/infoline

SSMR May/June 2012

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

ever larger vessels will effectively increase the markets
supply side on a wide scale. Even though the fleet additions
target mostly the upper size classes, the cascading effect leads
to higher than expected pressure on rates for smaller size
classes as well. Most recent fleet data shows a slightly sinking
number of idle container vessels, but oversupply will remain
an issue for quite some time.

Fig. 14: Monthly container traffic of selected ports by region

2002-2012 (TEU - Index monthly av. 2000=100)
450
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan

350

South Asia

300
250

The weighted Charter Rate Index from Harper Peterson &

Co., for example, stood at a level of 398 in late 2011 (half the
level of a year ago). From that time on, the index climbed
and is currently at around 450 (compare Fig. 14).

200

End of May 2012, the idle container fleet comprised 237

vessels with 560.000 TEU against 63 vessels with 80,000
TEU a year earlier (source: Alphaliner). This represents only
3.6 per cent of the existing cellular fleet.

150
100
50

600

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
North Range

500

Container ships 3 months T/C (in US$/14t/TEU/day)

Baltic Sea

400

Beg. of m onth

Mediterranean

300

Size class
05.09 04.10 04.11 03.12 04.12 05.12
2300 TEU Grless
2.4
2.8
8.2
3.4
3.4
3.4
2000 TEU Geared
2.8
4.5
7.8
3.9
3.8
4.0
1300 TEU Geared
3.8
4.3
10.1
4.9
5.2
6.0
500 TEU Geared
8.7
6.2
12.4
13.1
13.0 12.7
Source: Hamburg Shipbrokers Association (VHSS)

200
100
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
400

In February 2012, 1,953 container ships representing

approximately 47 per cent of the total TEU capacity of the
world container fleet were chartered in. Thus, the charter
rates are an important indicator for container shipping.

South America

350

North America Atlantic

300

North America Pacific

250

Second-hand and contracting prices for container ships

200

The development of second-hand prices of container vessels

is correlating with the increasing overcapacity. While prices
for smaller vessels develop relatively modestly, the secondhand prices for bigger ships where predominantly shrinking.
Vessel prices for a 4,500 TEU carrier decreased on average
by about 14.6 per cent during the last year.

150

Looking at the second-hand and newbuilding prices based

on available market data, the market tendencies can be
summarised as follows:

Second-hand prices for five-year old container ships

of 3,000 TEU reached an average price of 31.3
million US$ in late 2011. The newbuilding prices for
the same size and period stood at 35 million US$ one
year earlier.

As expected there were continuing second-hand and

newbuilding price decreases during 2011 for ships of
all TEU sizes.

For the first months of 2012 the development of

second-hand and newbuilding prices was uneven.

400

China

400

100
50
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
450
Africa
Oceania

350

Near East

300
250
200
150
100
50
0

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor 2012

Fig. 15: Second hand prices for 5 years old container ships 2006 2011 by TEU size classes (mill. US$ at year end)

FUTURE TONNAGE SUPPLY - THE SHIPBUILDING

60

MARKET FOR CONTAINER AND GENERAL CARGO SHIPS

50

New orders and order book development

Container ships on order

In 2011, a total of 253 container ships with a combined

capacity of 1.8 million TEU were ordered worldwide, up
from 0.7 million TEU one year earlier. At the beginning of
2012 the order book for container ships comprised 631 ships
with 23.3 million cgt (4.4 million TEU), against 21.1 million

10

mill US $

40

3.1

30
20
10
0
1000 TEU
-3.3

1700 TEU

-11.4
Price % changes 2010- 2011

ISL based on Platou Monthly 04/2012

SSMR May/June 2012

3000 TEU

4500 TEU
-14.6

www.isl.org

Comment - World container and general cargo shipping

cgt (3.8 million TEU) at the start of 2011. The container ship
order book at the beginning of 2012 represented a TEU ratio
of 28.5 per cent in relation to the existing container fleet.
This ratio was slightly higher than in January 2011 (27.2 per
cent).

Fig. 16: New building contracting prices for Container ships

2006 -2011 by TEU size classes (mill. US$ at year end)
120
100

New orders for general cargo ships (incl. various ship types
such as ro-ro cargo ships, car carriers or heavy-lift vessels)
amounted to 345 vessels with 2.7 million cgt (3.4 million
dwt) in 2011, a decrease of 26.5 per cent compared with
2010. During the same period, 507 general cargo ships with
5.3 million cgt left the order book after completion.
Contract cancellations in 2011 amounted to 120 vessels
with a capacity of 1.5 million dwt.
The order book as of January 1st, 2012 comprised 1,004
general cargo ships with 10.2 million cgt and 13.7 million
dwt, respectively. The general cargo ship order book at the
beginning of 2012 represented a dwt ratio of 13.0 per cent
in relation to the existing general cargo fleet.
3.2

Leading shipbuilding countries

At the beginning of 2012, 23.0 million cgt of the total

container tonnage and 9.0 million cgt of the total general
cargo tonnage on order were attributable to yards in Asia.
Their cgt market share for container and general cargo
tonnage stood at 98.7 and 88.1 per cent, respectively.
Container shipbuilding is largely a domain of Korean yards.
Looking at the order book, Korean yards accounted for
14.3 million cgt equal to 61.1per cent of the total
container order book, followed by China with 6.4 million
cgt (27.3 per cent). All other shipbuilding countries had cgt
shares of less than 5 per cent. In total, only 13 countries are
involved in container shipbuilding.
As of January 1st, 2012, the order book ranking for general
cargo ships is led by China with 3.9 million cgt equal to a
market share of 38.4 per cent, followed by Japan with 2.1
million cgt (20.0 per cent), and Korea with 1.7 million cgt
(16.3 per cent).
Latest figures on container and general cargo ship orders
(1st quarter, 2012):

During the first quarter of 2012, only eight new orders for
smaller container ships (13,600 TEU) have been reported.
As of April 1st, 2012, the order book for container vessels
comprised 590 ships with 4.0 million TEU (21.6 million
cgt) compared with 604 vessels one year earlier.

40

0
1,000 TEU
-11.6

1,700 TEU

3,000 TEU

4,500 TEU

-6.9
-4.5
-7.6
Price % changes 2010 - 2011

6,000 TEU
-1.4

ISL based on Platou Monthly 04/2012

Fig. 17: World container fleet - new orders and broken-up
tonnage, quarterly 2005 2011 (mill. dwt)
18.0

Broken-up

15.0

New orders

12.0
mill dwt

General cargo ships on order

60

20

9.0
6.0
3.0
0.0
3.0
05/IV 06/II 06/IV 07/II 07/IV 08/II 08/IV 09/II 09/IV 10/II 10/IV 11/II 11/IV

Fig. 18: World container and general cargo order book, quarterly
2006 2012 (mill. cgt)
45

Container ships

40

General cargo ships

35
30

mill cgt

The order book still remains biased towards larger ships,

with 79 per cent of the capacity on order concentrated on
ships of over 6,000 TEU. A noticeable 165 container ships
on order had capacities of 10,000 TEU and above, of
which 34 ships with more than 14,000 TEU. In terms of
cgt, ships with a capacity of 10,000 TEU and above
represent 43 per cent of the containership order book.

80

mill US $

Based on the current order book the container fleet

capacity will increase by 10 per cent in 2012 and about 9
per cent in 2013 if ships are delivered as planned.

25
20
15
10
5
0
06/I 06/III 07/I 07/III 08/I 08/III 09/I 09/III 10/I 10/III 11/I 11/III 12/I

Explanatory note

The compensated gross tons (cgt) concept was first devised by

shipbuilder associations, and adopted by the OECD Council Working
Party on Shipbuilding (WP6), in the 1970s to provide a more accurate
measure of shipyard activity than could be achieved by the usual gross
ton (gt) and deadweight ton (dwt) measures. The compensated gross
tons (cgt) are calculated by multiplying the tonnage of a ship by a
coefficient, which is determined according to type and size for a
particular ship. Cgt is used as an indicator of the volume of work that is
necessary to build a given ship. Cgt coefficients were changed as of
January 1st, 2007.

During the first quarter 2012, only 15 new orders for

general cargo ships were placed. As of April 1st, 2012, the
order book for general cargo ships comprised 916 ships
with 12.5 million dwt (9.2 million cgt).

SSMR May/June 2012

11

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