Americas News
North American ECA Rules Spurring Newbuild Orders in 2015 to Seven-Year Highs
Container carriers are accelerating newbuild orders as they race to beat a January 1, 2016 deadline that will impose stricter nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission requirements on ships travelling in the North American Emission Control Area (ECA), Shipping Watch reports.
The new regulations will require all ships with a keel laid after the end of 2015 to comply with International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier III NOx standards, which has reportedly spurred a number of carriers to place newbuild orders before the end of the year.
As a result, the number of newbuilds in 2015 has risen to a seven-year high, with 190 ships ordered that have a combined capacity of 2.04 million TEU.
According to Alphaliner, Asian carriers China COSCO, Evergreen, PIL and Yang Ming in particular have driven much of the bulk of orders this year.
Earlier this month, China COSCO ordered 11 newbuild 19,000 TEU ultra-large container carriers (ULCCs) for $1.5 billion, the largest of the 2015 orders, reports said.
Last year, it was reported that while the North American NOx Emissions Control Area (NECA) will come into effect in 2016 as originally planned, NECAs in other parts of the world will be delayed.
