Newport Shipping: news update: Drydocking

The Future Of Drydocking

The drydocking marketing over the last year has remained steady. After the last couple of years where the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) has had an impact and put pressure on slots, this is now starting to ease. But there is still demand which has been steadily increasing in the last six months.

Over the last few months Newport Shipping has received greater than expected enquires. It has also received many approaches for the yards outside of Turkey and has secured projects during the summer period. One of which has been completed and other is en route to the yard in China.

The main challenges in the market are mainly focused on the Far East. Newport Shipping sees restrictions in China and congestion that will result from non-available shipyards together with manpower availability being principal concerns.

Adding to this is the mounting pressure of environmental legislation. The regulations have become extremely onerous for decision makers of shipping companies. Platforms, such as NMS, can assist by providing reliable information to the industry. Since Newport Shipping’s network is not limited to a single shipyard, it can cover the most active trade routes as well as providing the best price and quality for specific items.

Newport Shipping’s experienced and knowledgeable advanced engineering team is fully equipped to enable 100% customer satisfaction. For example, in terms of logistics, the closed status of Chinese yards at varying times has previously led shipping companies to seek alternative locations for their drydocking projects. Given Newport Shipping has been managing a yard in Turkey, it has been easily able offer a slot from that yard for customers’ benefit. Although there is a significant delay in ship repair projects around the globe, with its strategic and constantly growing network of shipyard and service partners; Newport Shipping can deliver any type of vessel on time in a yard in its network.

 A number of yards are making investments in ‘environmentally friendly’ areas such as hull water blasting and purchasing water blasting equipment. The majority of yards are fully booked until the first quarter of 2023.   Demand is increasing particularly for BWTS, and due to congestion in new building shipyards, some ship owners are looking for conversion options in order to increase the capacity of their existing fleets and yards are investing to meet this forecast demand.

The coming year looks as though it will also have significant challenges. Newport Shipping’s yards were fully booked until first Q of 2022, and the company also expects to secure more conversion projects going forward, too. Like many industries globally, a major consideration is going to be escalation of costs, given charterer rates are reducing and material prices are rising.

The global ship repairing market grew from $29.73 billion in 2021 to $32.72 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.0%. [i] The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted the pace of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, at least in the short term. The war between these two countries has led to economic sanctions on multiple countries, a surge in commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions, affecting many markets across the globe. Major companies in the ship repair sector are concentrating on the development of advanced technology services for ship repair to try to mitigate these setbacks and to improve efficiency and reduce costs for customers.

Due to the waving in freight costs and expenses, deferred payment can be a good option to consider to assist customer’s financial position. Newport Shipping believes its deferred payment schemes - to spread repair payments over a longer term than has traditionally been granted in the market - will allow customers to easier access solutions and services to ease the upfront and ongoing financial burden of major project costs. Newport Shipping can offer up to 24 months of payback period for up to 60% of the final invoice in drydocking projects. Terms are different for LNG retrofit projects. Newport Shipping’s global logistical offering, state-of the-art online analysis and ordering (NMS), and cutting-edge engineering, together with its financial payment solutions creates a proposition that revolutionises the ship repair market.