Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 226
NEW SHIPS FOR
NEW MARKETS
The trend towards larger ships was
obvious by the 1960s, but smaller
ships were still in high demand.
Shipping being a capital-intensive industry not only depends on the freight
market but also on the willingness of bankers to finance, at reasonable
conditions, the heavy investments that go into ships. It was in 1963 when
10,000 tonners fetched the lowest freight rates ever which in turn negatively
affected their market value and which made bankers believe that the time
was up for that category of ship. Instead, they favoured and willingly provided
loans for the larger types of bulk carriers. The years that followed made them
realise that even those ships could not generate higher than average returns.
There is nothing to distract from the basic wisdom that one of the decisive
factors determining the economic success of a ship depends on the time in
any market cycle at which it is purchased and, though not as important as
the former, at which it is disposed of. Quite naturally the unit costs per ton of
deadweight capacity decrease as ship size increases but world trade needs
all sizes of ships if it is to function properly.
The trend toward the larger ship was much in evidence at the beginning of
what might be termed the Liberty Replacement era. As bulk carriers grew
larger, they found that fewer ports could accommodate them. Thus, the
15,000 tonners gained access to new markets. Feeder ships were required
ranging from 200 to 20,000 tdw, depending on type of cargo and trade.
15,000 tonners drawing 30 feet of water or less could safely reach almost
every major port in the world. There were sceptics who predicted that the
rapid changeover from conventional to fully containerised methods in liner
shipping would push many former liner ships into the tramp market. However,
a fair number of these liners were either overaged or would have had to be
converted to suit their new tasks. Also, typical liner vessels with up to three
decks, narrow hatches and such features as vegetable oil tanks, refrigerated
chambers, lockers, etc. and expensive propulsion machinery delivering high
speeds had limited chances of catering for bulk cargoes.
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