Reactivation of laid up vessels to deplete idle fleet
According to Alphaliner, the fleet of idle containerships will diminish over the next two months as previously laid up vessels will return to active service with the introduction of new services, capacity upgrades on a few loops, and additional extra slow steaming.
These moves could lead to the employment of about 40 additional ships of over 3,500 teu by the end of April, with more than 15 units drawn from the current pool of idle ships (the others will be delivered ex yard or freed up by their current charterers).
Carriers are gearing up for the summer shipping season with optimism nurtured by a revived demand in most main trade-lanes. Charter market ships of 4,000-5,500 teu are now becoming harder to find after a wave of charters for such ships in the past few weeks. A number of carrier-controlled units of 4,000-7,000 teu currently remain idle, but some of these could be re-activated at short notice, if justified by the demand growth.
The idle fleet as at 1 March 2010 stood at 1.24 Mteu or 9.4% of the cellular containership fleet, the lowest level since July 2009 based on Alphaliner’s records. Hopefully, the idle fleet could fall below 1 Mteu within the next two months as new services and additional demand created by extra slow steaming continue to absorb surplus ships and with a few idle veterans of 2,500-4,000 teu scrapped.
