Shipbuilding in dire straits: global ordering hit hard in the first half of 2020


by Jasmina Ovcina, author at Offshore Energy


There has been a dramatic fall in shipbuilding activity during the first half of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic curbed owners’ willingness to order new ships amid market uncertainties and restricted access to capital.


Based on data from VesselsValue, the number of ordered ships in the first half of 2020 has almost been halved when compared to the same period a year earlier. Namely, the valuations agency’s record shows that in the first half of 2020 there were around 332 new ship orders across all sectors, a 47 % fall when compared to a total of 625 orders in the first half of 2019 across all sectors.


This is further down from the corresponding 2018 figures that equalled 881 orders.


Data from Clarksons Research


Service, cited by Yonhap, paints a similar picture, with global new shipbuilding orders totalling 5.75 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), or a total of 269 ships being ordered during the January-June 2020 period.


The tally is believed to be the lowest since 1996.


According to Clarksons, Chinese shipbuilders secured the majority of orders totalling 3.51 million CGTs, or 145 ships, followed by South Korean shipbuilders with 1.18 million CGTs, or 37 ships, and Japanese players with 570,000 CGTs, or 36 ships.


90 | The Report • September 2020 • Issue 93


The ongoing situation has also impacted the number of delivered vessels, with a lot of slippage being reported so far this year.


VesselsValue told Offshore Energy-Green Marine that at this point in 2019 there were 873 live vessels delivered, while there are 758 this year. The UK-based maritime online valuation provider explained that being halfway through the year means over half of the 2020 vessels were expected to be live. However, there are a lot of ships still on order which are likely to slip further into 2021.


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