Alphaliner Sees Boxship Scrubber Retrofits at Record High

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday February 26, 2020

The number of container ships out of the market while they wait for scrubber retrofits has reached a record high, according to shipping intelligence service Alphaliner.

Offline capacity reached 1.02 million twenty-foot equivalent units by 21 February, the company said in its latest weekly note, the highest level since it started measuring the data at the start of last year.

Chinese yards account for 77% of current ongoing scrubber installations, Alphaliner said, and delays because of the COVID-19 virus outbreak may be responsible for the increase in offline capacity.

But more ships are still arriving at the yards despite the delays, the company said, with 25 container ships arriving since 1 February, compared with 15 vessels departing after completed retrofits in the same period.