The seafreight of fresh produce has experienced record cargo growth despite an uncertain future for the specialised reefer fleet, according to a report by Drewry Maritime Research’s latest reefer shipping market review and forecast report.
The reports shows that reefer trade reached almost 91m tonnes in 2011, with the highest growth seen in the exotic fruit category. Despite its relatively small volume of 4.07m tonnes in 2011, trade has grown by 8.8 per cent a year since 2001.
However, the specialised reefer fleet continues its decline with a reduction of 234 vessels and 81m cubic feet in thelast ten years and the order book empty for new vessels, the report revealed.
In contrast, container ship numbers are continuing to increase, with more than 500 vessels yet to be delivered.
Other areas covered in the report include fleet order books, specialised reefer operators’ profiles, the reefer cargo modal split, commodities analysis, specialised reefer and freezer fleet, the containerised reefer fleet, reefer ship economics, and trade forecasts up to 2016.
