SINGAPORE —- The big container ships plying the world’s trade routes are growing ever larger, holding down the cost of ocean shipping, raising worries among vessel operators, insurers and regulators about potential accidents.
The ships, designed to carry freight stowed in large metal containers, transport much of the world’s seaborne cargo, including manufactured goods and, increasingly, farm products.
Their increasing size is straining the unloading resources at some port facilities and – along with labor troubles – has contributed to major traffic snarls at the nation’s West Coast ports.
Since the economic downturn, shipping lines have sought to stay competitive by running larger, more fuel-efficient container ships in major shipping lanes, reducing their cost per container, according to Noel Hacegaba, acting deputy director of the Port of Long Beach, Califonia.
Today, the newest and biggest container ships can carry around 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units–the industry’s capacity benchmark–but Dr. Hacegaba said in a study last year that industry watchers expect ships as large as 22,000 TEU to come into service by 2018, and that 24,000-TEU vessels are on the drawing board.
The larger ships will further test the capacity of ports and canals and the skill of their captains and crews. “There is a world-wide shortage of qualified seamen to command these vessels,” said Andrew Kinsey, senior marine risk consultant at insurer Allianz SE’s Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty unit and a retired ship’s captain. Capt. Kinsey added that human error is a factor in most shipping accidents.
Though there have been fewer such accidents in recent years, their cost has been rising. Ship groundings topped the roster of insured losses from 2009 to 2013, putting them ahead of fire, plane crashes and earthquakes, according to Allianz.
(Dow Jones News)
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Philippine Export Times 