25 Sep 13 - 12:25
New Clarksons report on eco- ships
Clarksons released a new report entitled as ''What are eco-ships up against?" to analyse the new trend in the shipping market at the moment, the move to ''eco-ships''. These ships promise change in cost savings and environmental- friendly permormance.
According to the report, there are three eco-ship issues:
- The fuel consumption in the last 20 years was pretty flat and on paper at least, many of the modern ships are less efficient than older generations.
- The big improvement 1975-88 which started from $2/bbl gas guzzlers will be difficult to repeat because the technology has been squeezed so hard over the last 25 years
- The big fuel saver is slower speed and good old ships can play this game as well as new ships.
The report concludes that ''eco-ships'' carry a lot of capital costs and in the long-term the return on capital counts, not who you beat at the loading point today. Against this background, and the many uncertainties over the true performance of the new eco-technology, it's no wonder investors are struggling. Eco-features are definitely a nice bonus if you need a new ship, but it's the "need" issue that's tricky.
