With the ever greater inflow of mega-ships in the global fleet it seems that the cost savings introduced by these behemoths have bottomed out as savings are decreasing and might not even be realized, according to a study about the impact of mega-ships on maritime transport.
The study was published recently by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation with 54 member countries, acting as a strategic think tank with the objective of helping shape the transport policy agenda on a global level.
Doubling the maximum container ship size over the last decade has reduced total vessel costs per transported container by roughly a third. However, these cost savings are decreasing with size; the cost savings of the newest generation of containerships are four to six times smaller than the savings from the previous round of upsizing, the study shows.
Approximately 60% of the cost savings of the most recent container ships are related to more efficient engines and not to scale. In addition, mega-ship development and the related container fleet capacity growth has taken place despite sluggish growth of world containerized seaborne trade.
“The massive ordering of new mega-ships has resulted in oversupply of container ships, which will most likely dampen some of the cost savings due to larger ships, as low demand results in fewer savings per transported container. The transport costs due to larger ships could be substantial,” the study said.
There are size-related fixes to existing infrastructure, such as bridge height, river width/depth, quay wall strengthening, berth deepening, canals/locks and port equipment (crane height, outreach).
Mega-ships also require expansion of infrastructure to cater to the higher peaks related to mega-ships; as a result, more physical yard and berth capacity is needed. These annualisedtransport costs related to mega-ships could amount to USD0.4 billion, according to the ITF’s rough and tentative estimations.
“Cost savings of the newest generation of containerships 4-6 times smaller”
Roughly a third of the additional costs might be related to equipment, a third to dredging and another third to port infrastructure and port hinterland costs. A substantial share of the dredging, infrastructure and hinterland connection costs are costs to the public sector in many countries, the study finds.
Supply chain risks related to bigger container ships are rising as well. There are also concerns about insurability of mega-ships and the costs of potential salvage in case of accidents.
“Mega-ships also lead to service and cargo concentration, reduced choice and more limited supply chain resilience, especially since bigger ships have coincided with increased cooperation of the main shipping lines in four alliances,” the study adds.
Therefore, ITF believes that public policies need to better take account of this and act accordingly. Key question is how the costs for the public sector imposed by mega-ships could be covered.
“More balanced decision making would be needed, with clearer alignment of incentives to public interests, policy support to enhance supply chain productivity, more regional collaboration and the creation of an appropriate forum for a discussion between liner companies and all other relevant transport actors,” ITF said.
According to the study, further increase of maximum container ship size would raise transport costs, raising the question on whether such increases would be desirable.
“The potential cost savings to carriers appear to be fairly marginal, but infrastructure upsizing costs could be phenomenal. Introduction of one hundred 24,000 TEU ships in 2020 would require substantial investments in those places where these ships would be first introduced (Far East, North Europe, Mediterranean), but would also – via cascading effects – result in introduction of 19,000 TEU ships in North America and 14,000 TEU ships in South America and Africa. This would imply additional investment requirements there as well,” the study said.
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