Shipbuilder Clarkson’s managing director Martin Stopford has come up with a plea that China should delay its bid to pass South Korea as the world’s biggest shipbuilder to prevent a flood of new vessels extending industrywide losses.
"This sort of target really should be put aside for the time being," he said. "We’re in a very serious situation."
China’s new-ship orders fell 63% in the first 10 months of the year.
China has asked state banks to boost financing for new ships to prevent order cancellations, safeguard jobs and support a plan to pass South Korea in ship production by 2015. Yet, according to Martin Stopford, the global container-ship fleet has as much as 20% excess capacity.
Business Times reports that according to Clarkson, China delivered 20% of new vessels worldwide in 2008, and it held 33% of the global order book as of November.