Shipowners blindsided by China's coronavirus crisis are asking classification societies to extend deadlines on essential work to allow ships to trade while awaiting yard space.
Government measures to combat the spread of the virus have brought Chinese shiprepair production to a standstill at a time of unusually high demand.
Owners had timed special survey dockings and environmental upgrades around Chinese New Year to make the most of slack cargo demand and are now left with few obvious alternatives.
Shipyard stoppages
Shiprepair executives have told TradeWinds that some customers are seeking to extend certificates of class, others are taking work abroad and many are planning to idle vessels due to a combination of yard stoppages and poor market conditions.
Coronavirus complications have affected not only shipyards but also their suppliers, class societies and manufacturers needing to visit yards in China to commission equipment.
Sweden's Stena Bulk is among owners that have had their plans for scrubber installation and dry-docking thwarted.
Sources said a Stena suezmax and two IMO type 2 chemical carriers, which were to have been docked in February, have been forced to change plans.
Without commenting on a particular case, an official of classification society Lloyd's Register (LR) said many shipowners are now applying to extend certificates because of the coronavirus epidemic. Certain surveyable items within the LR business areas can be postponed for up to three months, while the LR headquarters can consider longer extensions, according to a London-based spokeswoman.
Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line may also be forced to rejig planned upgrades.
They are talking with class about postponing the docking. If they cannot get their certificates extended, they will have to do the work outside China
Source
Sources said three of the company's 8,800-teu containerships were to have been retrofitted with scrubber towers during a March dry-docking at the Kaohsiung yard of Taiwan state-owned CSBC.
But obstacles to travel from the mainland related to the coronavirus seem likely to scuttle this.
The owners could not immediately be contacted for comment.
The world's shipowners rely heavily on China for shiprepair, not least upgrades to meet newly required environmental regulations.
Recent figures from Clarksons Research put the number of vessels that underwent scrubber retrofits during 2019 at 1,274, with the vast majority, some 77%, done in China.
Aside from Chinese manufacturers, many western scrubber-makers also have large production capacity in China for the close proximity to the yards.
Alfa Laval has confirmed its current plan is to begin operation in China on 10 February, one week later than originally scheduled.
The Swedish manufacturer declined to comment on whether it would declare force majeure to any clients, though. “
Retrofits are time-intensive. The work took ships out of service for an average of 36 days for bulkers and 53 days for containerships.
But Chinese shipyard executives believe the volume of such work booked around the Chinese New Year season represented an increase on last year's volume, with owners seeking to get the most possible work done at the least profitable trading time.
TradeWinds has recently reported on advice by protection and indemnity insurer the Standard Club that scrubber delays could prevent owners from performing on charters.
But the advice will come late for ships amid scrubber or ballast-water treatment system installations that cannot now be immediately completed.
The labour shortages and work restrictions come as Chinese authorities seek to slow the spread of the disease.
Scale of shutdown
This has included sealing off the city of Wuhan and others heavily affected by the virus, extending the Chinese New Year holiday, limiting interregional transport and encouraging non-essential businesses to shut their doors — all measures that make it unlikely that shipyards can quickly resume a normal pace of work.
Meanwhile, all Chinese shipyards that have spoken with TradeWinds have underscored their support for the government measures.
"At this moment everyone is focused on the coronavirus until everything returns to normal," said one shiprepair official. "Afterwards, there may be financial support or compensation, I don't know. We have to tell shipowners that we do not know our production arrangements. Our customers have been supportive. They understand."
Max Lin contributed to this story.
