Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Boneyard: Alang Shipbreaking Yards from Space

In last year's "Hard Core Analysis: Counting the Ships in the World's Largest Scrapyard" I mentioned one of the esoteric indicators we used to try to get an edge on the macro biz, analyzing the makeup of the ships being demolished at Alang. Here's more from qCaptain:
The following image shows the shipbreaking yards at Alang, an industrial complex north of Mumbai in the Gulf of Khambhat. Photo taken from space via Digital Globe.
alang shipbreaking yard
Satellite view of the Alang Shipbreaking Yards, Via Digital Globe, click for larger
A huge portion of the world’s merchant fleet finds itself beached at the end of its useful life at Alang, a workplace that also claims the lives of many of its workers as well. The following documentary gives a fascinating account of the business of shipbreaking....MORE
According to the Ship Scrapping blog some of the ships currently at Alang:
Ship demolitions 14/4/2014

Aashman [PA] IMO 8323719 Bulk carrier built 1984
Baltic Mariner [LR] IMO 7710903 Reefer built 1979
Commodore [CY] IMO 9035981 Container vessel built 1992 
Amonte [KN] IMO 8920490 Tanker built 1990
Ashraf [TG] IMO 7126360 Cargo vessel built 1971
Asia Star [MT] IMO 9046241 Container vessel built 1994
LNG Aries [MH] IMO 7390193 LNG carrier built 1977
Finisterre [LR] IMO 8710986 Container vessel built 1995
Msc Socotra [PA] IMO 9074004 Container vessel built 1995
Athens Trader [ ] IMO 9070175 Container vessel built 1995
Hanjin London [PA] IMO 9111383 Container vessel built 1996
Northern Delight [LR] IMO 90882374 Container vessel built 1994

...MORE 

A preponderance of container vessels and not so many crude oil tankers.
In early 2008 we saw few tankers as they were being used for storage. That changed after the price collapsed. Hmmm...