Feature 2 | CHEMICAL & PRODUCT TANKERS
Normally a channel would be cut into the bank, but the ‘shipbuilders’ discovered utility pipes buried beneath the bank, so they resorted to plan B.
period. As such demand for chemical goods was weak, while the clean products figures were worse, with a fall of 48.6% year-on-year in July 2009 for petroleum and coal products and 50.9% for products from refineries. A weakening of the market in the USA,
the world’s largest economy, is generally understood to be an indication that the global
economy is also flagging. It is then likely that the demand for chemical and product tankers in the current market is also weakening. None of this is news to those currently experiencing the downturn, however, the deterioration in the markets allied to a newbuilding boom has seen the downturn in the market shiſt from a problem to a crisis.
According to chemical tanker industry
consultants Ken Tree and Charles Barton, who collectively constitute KTR- Maritime Consulting and represent more than 100 years experience in the industry, there were 102 Chemical tankers in 1980. Twenty nine years later there are more than 3800 IMO classed chemical and product tankers with a further 818 due for delivery this year and, says Mr Barton, up to 100 ships are likely to be scrapped, a net increase in the fleet (in terms of the number of ships) of 18.86%. Indeed Mr Barton went on to say that even if there were to be a greater desire to scrap chemical tankers there is simply “not enough scrapping capacity in the world” to meet the maritime industry’s needs. Mr Tree said: “Te scale of the industry is
enormous. If we tied all the ships up along side one another, you could walk for over 80km and still be crossing their decks and if all the crews came ashore at the same time they would fill Wembley Stadium.”
Making a splash, the ship successfully hits the water. Oh no we forgot the champagne.
42 The Naval Architect November 2009
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