Friday, June 19, 2009
Hellenic registered fleet "explodes" in April
Friday, 19 June 2009
The Hellenic registered shipping fleet posted one its highest ever monthly rises in April, according to latest monthly report released by the National Statistics Agency. Vessels flying the country's flag were increased by an impressive 12 ships during April, despite the fact that many older dry bulk carriers have kept on exiting the market and sold for scrap. The total number of ships reached 2,100 in April, up from 2,088 in March, and 2,086 in February. In terms of the tonnage’s total capacity, it now stands at 40,475,472 tons, versus 39,844,012 tons during the previous month.
Reversing the trend of the past few months, the dry bulk fleet numbers managed to edge upwards to reach 624 vessels, against 621 in March. Similarly, the tonnage capacity managed to edge higher, with the fleet’s tonnage now standing at 15,118,964 tons, versus 14,914,456 in March, 14,903,657 tons in February, 15,057,904 tons in January and 15,078,971 tons in December. In other words, capacity is the highest in a series of months.
The most impressive increase in terms of ships flying the country’s flag was observed in the tanker side, as was the trend established so far. In all, seven more tankers entered the Hellenic Registry, with five more vessels entering the Hellenic Registry, bringing the total tanker fleet at 540 vessels bearing a total capacity of 23,670,195 tons, up from 533 units with a capacity of 23,247,755 tons in March. As for the rest of the fleet (passenger ships and other types), it was also increased by two vessels to reach 936 units in March.
Accumulatively, from December of 2000 until April of 2009, the number of vessels flying the Hellenic flag has been increased by 6.2%, with the most notable rise being in the ships’ capacity, which is higher by 48.1% (versus 45.8% until March of 2009). Similarly, the number of tankers flying the Hellenic flag has been increased by 18.2% and by 67.9% in terms of capacity.
On the dry side, vessel numbers are almost unchanged from 2000 (-0.2%), while from a capacity point of view, the growth stands at 27.2%, up from 25.5% in the previous month. This is easily translated to bigger bulkers entering the fleet, with capasizes proving to be the most popular type. As more new buildings are being delivered this year, the growth of the Hellenic Registry is expected to continue, despite the fact that older ships are also being sold for scrap, thus exiting the fleet.
