Less promising forecast for ship operating costs
The cost of operating cargo ships is forecasted to rise over the next two years, after falling in 2015, according to the latest ship operating costs annual review and forecast 2015/16 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.
The average decline in ship operating costs across the sectors covered in the report in 2015 was 1%, but for ships that are big consumers of lube oils, the drop in overall costs was closer to 2%. Weak freight markets have forced shipowners to trim expenditure, and they also benefited from falling commodity prices and lower insurance costs.
Modest increases in manning costs are in the pipeline, given the uplifts that have been agreed in International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) wage scales for 2016 and 2017.
If freight markets improve, hull values for modern vessels will rise and this should lead to higher hull and machinery premiums, but only small rises are expected in 2016 and 2017.