Senior executives at some of the world’s biggest operators of car-carrying ships have expressed doubts about how quickly the sector will recover from a slump, in spite of plans by one of the sector’s biggest investors for an initial public offering of shares and capital-raising.
Demand in the car-carrier sector, which handles new and used vehicles for the automotive trade, was about 60 per cent lower in 2009 than in 2008. The collapse prompted operators either to scrap or lay up out of use about 100 of the 560 vessels operating before the slump.
However, the sector still faces absorbing significant new ship deliveries. Between 70 and 80 new vessels ordered during the sector’s boom are due to be delivered this year alone.