ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly newbuildings provide fuel efficiencies that will break ship operators without them, says Germanischer Lloyd vice president Albrecht Grella.

Speaking to Lloyd's List German ship finance conference in Hamburg, the classification society representative said a 9,000-TEU fuel efficient eco-ship could save the operator US$2 million a year, enabling significant slot cost reductions.


But the need for owners to buy eco-ships to stay competitive will add needless capacity, delaying supply and demand balance. Not mentioned was the growing abundance of oil and gas finds which has yet to have significant impact on prices.


Braemar Seascope head of containers Nick Hubbard told the audience the current containership orderbook was equivalent to 21 per cent of existing capacity, compared to around 60 per cent at the peak of the boom eight years ago.