Orderbook now at lowest point since 2006

The global newbuilding orderbook is continuing to decrease and it now stands at 7,495 ships of 474.7m dwt as at September 1st, the lowest level since December 2006 when 7,388 ships were on order. However, the recent surge of new VLCC and suezmax orders boosted tanker orderbook by 2.5m dwt month-on-month, Clarkson Research Services' monthly report shows. The Chinese order backlog came in at 189.5m dwt (51.5m cgt), Korean at 157.2m dwt (46.4m cgt) and Japanese at 86.7m dwt (23.6m cgt). South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje Shipyard has the world's largest orderbook at 8.28m cgt, followed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's Okpo Shipyard with 7.786m cgt backlog and Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan Shipyard with 7.246m cgt.