Kolkata: Sea freight for dry bulk cargo like coal and fertiliser is expected to remain soft for the next couple of years due to oversupply of bulk carriers, according to Peter Cremers, ceo of the Hong Kong-headquartered shipmanagement company Anglo-Eastern Group.
“The dry bulk carrier market is already overcrowded,” said Cremers. “To add to the supply pressure, there are orders galore for new vessels, as shipowners are keen to take advantage of the current economic downcycle so as to keep acquisition costs low.” Cremers was speaking at a conference in Kolkata.
The Anglo-Eastern ceo does not expect oversupply in the tanker business. The improved potential of gas trade should also create adequate demand for LNG carriers that have witnessed major expansion in fleet capacity in recent years.
While the global operations of the company are growing, its Indian operations have stagnated over the past two years, mainly because Anglo-Eastern faced action from the Directorate General of Shipping on safety issues, following the explosion in a company managed oil tanker (Prem Divya) in December 2011, at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, that killed five people.
