Drewry sees box ships beating breakbulk as reefer trade booms

Time:2010-09-19 Browse:38 Author:RISINGSUN

LONDON`s Drewry Shipping Consultants predict reefer trades will make a "robust recovery" in the next few years resulting in a "modal war" between breakbulk ships and containerships, reports American Shipper.

Drewry said in their recent reefer study that in mid-2010 there were 727 breakbulk reefer ships with more than 100,000 cubic feet, a 17 per cent reduction in capacity in the past decade. The average age of these breakbulk ships is 22 and more than 70 have been scrapped since 2008.


While the reefer breakbulk reefer fleet is better suited to a reefer boom, Drewry said "the number of newbuild containerships to come on stream in the next two years is greater than the whole of the remaining specialised breakbulk fleet."


While such reefer growth would favour the breakbulk ships, it "cannot be accommodated by the specialised fleet, [thus] handing container operators a golden opportunity to increase market share", said Drewry managing director Nigel Gardiner.