Abstract
The global shipbuilding industry has witnessed many crests & troughs in its
growth story from the period spanning the 1960s. With the industry dominance
shifting from the European to the Asian nations such as S. Korea, China and
Japan, the industry has undergone massive changes in terms of construction
technologies, new demand for various ship types etc.
The industry is primarily characterised by huge working-capital requirements,
huge labour requirement etc. The demand for the ships may either be primary or
for replacement purpose. Factors such as growth in sea-borne trade, increasing
Exploration & Production (E&P) activities and other regulations contribute to
the demand for ships. The ships can broadly be classified into four major
types. This categorisation can further be broken up into several sub-parts
depending upon the carrying capacity of the ship and other distinct features.
The period spanning 2000-2007 has been a ‘golden era' for the global
shipbuilders with the global order book position growing at a CAGR of 22.9%.
The investments in the industry too have kept pace with the order book
requirements. However the deliveries of the ships have not been able to keep
pace with the growing order books and as such, the order books of the major
shipbuilding nations are booked up to 2012. Even the composition of the global
order books has witnessed a considerable change since 2000, with increased
ordering in the Dry Bulk segment during the recent years. With an increase in
E&P activities, the ordering in the Offshore Vessel segment too has surged
significantly.
The industry remains highly consolidated with the Asian shipbuilders
accounting for a major chunk of the global order books. Of the Asian nations,
the Korean, the Chinese and the Japanese shipbuilders in particular dominate
the global shipbuilding arena. The shipbuilding activity in the European
nations has witnessed a downtrend owing to the unavailability of labour and
the corresponding high labour costs. Even though Japan still remains one of
the top global shipbuilding nations in terms of order book position, the
country' s shipbuilding prospects appear bleak. Countries such as India,
Vietnam etc., with an abundance of cheap labour have recently emerged to the
fore in the global shipbuilding arena.
The Ship Repair industry can be characterised as an ‘Evergreen
industry' . With a massive growth in world fleet in recent times and more
vessels to be set afloat by 2012, the revenues from ship repair may well
witness an upward trend. With the major shipbuilding nations concentrating
primarily on the shipbuilding activities, nations such as Singapore, Dubai,
Bahrain, Colombo etc. have emerged as major ship repair centres. However with
a view to mitigate the risks of downtrends in shipbuilding, the shipbuilders
in Eastern Europe, Russia and India prefer to equip their shipyards with both
shipbuilding as well as ship repair facilities. The Indian ship repair
industry is highly regulated through the licensing policy of DG Shipping.
Through the Xth Plan, the Government of India (GoI) emphasised on developing
India' s ship repair capacity to match the international standards but with the
limited interest evinced by the Indian private players in this sector, most of
the targets remained unaccomplished. Keeping in mind the cyclicality of the
shipbuilding sector and the unearthed potentialities in the ship repair
sector, the GoI, through the XIth Plan has set afresh new targets and
recommended a few measures for achieving the desired results in the ship
repair sector.
| 
View Cart
