Marine Industries Global Market Analysis - Marine Institute

MARINE INDUSTRIES GLOBAL MARKET ANALYSIS
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Ports & harbours – €233 million (2004). Most of the tonnage of international cargo
is moved by sea and this involves the use of over 7,000 ports & harbours world-wide
and over 2,000 of these can be regarded as significant ports – in other words, they
carry out survey work. Major commercial ports do this using in-house hydrographers
although there is a small amount of contracted commercial activity.
Although there is a requirement to conduct the survey of ports and harbours on an
ongoing basis, the amount of money available for this process is fundamentally a
function of the number of ship movements through ports.The tonnage of goods
moved by sea is a function of national GDP and the above table is based on our views
of regional GDP growth over the period.The routine expenditure patterns are
complicated by major port development but as these tend to stretch over several years
the effect is ‘smoothed’ significantly.
We expect a continuing growth in port & harbour survey expenditure, with the US
being by far the largest region. Here the US Army Corps of Engineers is responsible
for a considerable proportion of national expenditure.
Submarine cables – €16 million 2004. Route survey is a critical part of the
installation of submarine cables and is now even more so due to changes in fishing
and shipping activities.This activity collapsed with the end of the ‘dotcom’ stock
market boom and released additional capacity into the other S&P sectors.
After a rapid climb to an annual peak of nearly €104 million in 2000, the installation,
and correspondingly the survey of submarine cable routes, virtually ground to a halt
in 2002.This had the spin-off effect of releasing survey capacity (and ROVs working
on cable burial) into the major market sector, oil & gas, elongating a period of low
prices caused by the earlier oil price fall. A further, but less publicised factor was the
development of technology allowing more capacity on the fibre-optic cables. A very
slow upturn in business is expected as the global economy recovers.
Exclusive economic zones – €23 million 2004.The definition of exclusive
economic zones (EEZ) outside the 200 nautical mile limit under the United Nations
Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) requires the use of S&P to determine the
location of the outer edge of the continental margin at a depth of 2,500m.
A successful claim can give a nation rights over hundreds of thousands of kilometres
of ‘seabed real estate’ and the associated oil, gas and mineral rights.