Newbuilding orders in 2018 snuck above 1,000 ships following a late rush of activity, according to data from Clarksons.
It counts 1,017 new ships contracted by the close of last year, down from the 1,155 vessels put in the book in 2017 but well up on the 687 newbuildings added in 2016.
There was a mixed performance across the various segments, with the number of new tanker and bulker orders down, but boxship and LNG contracting on the rise.
Last year saw 169 oil tankers ordered, down from 262 in 2017, with the number of specialised tankers inked falling from 72 to 35 on a year-on-year basis, Clarksons said.
However, with IMO 2020 on the horizon, big tankers are seeing the largest concentration of scrubber orders.
Petter Haugen, of Kepler Cheuvreux in Norway, citing Clarksons data, noted that 69% of the VLCC orderbook will be installed with a scrubber.
This is the highest number in any sector of shipping.
In the recovering dry cargo market, 279 newbuildings were placed, down from 377 in 2017, the shipbroker said.
The scrubber take-up in the capesize market was lower, with 43% of ships on order now having the equipment. Overall, 25% of bulkers on order have a scrubber.
As TradeWinds has reported, LNG carrier newbuilding activity was up sharply in 2018.
Clarksons now counts 76 LNG carriers of various sizes ordered last year, well up from the 10 in 2016 and the 18 in 2017.
Container newbuilding activity continued to climb in 2018, helped by some big-ticket deals.
According to Clarksons, the 190 new container vessels ordered was up from 140 in the previous 12 months.
