Record-breaking vessel orders in first quarter

In spite of negative factors such as the war in Iraq and SARS, the shipbuilding industry delivered some remarkable numbers since last November in receiving shipbuilding orders, construction jobs and exports.
Orders received during the first quarter this year rose by 339.7% to 4.03 million DWT.
Prior to September 2002, Shipowners were cautious and did a great deal more monitoring of the business environment than actual purchasing. However, after the oil tanker sank near Spain in November 2002, new vessel orders boomed internationally as new regulations necessitated the need to replace older vessels. New orders soared 10.6% over the former record from the fourth quarter last year. And all the orders were for export.
Characteristically, 75% of orders came from Europe, notably Greece and Germany. Since last December, gigantic containership orders numbered 29, 51% of all orders by number of vessels ordered. Nine of those are for 8,000 TEU vessels.
The number built during the first quarter rose by 17.4% to 1.97 million DWT worth 2.97 billion dollars, a 34.9% increase over the same period last year.
Backorders as of the end of March measured about 28.04 billion dollars, enough for two and half years work.
Meanwhile, new vessel prices recovered to similar levels from a year ago. Vessel prices decreased slightly since the fourth quarter of 2000 but started to turn around at the end of last.