French orders to foreign shipyards

18
Eric LD
169,400 dwt,
blt 1999 by
Daewoo, operated
by Louis Dreyfus
Armateurs
tankers (32%) and chemical carriers (23%), with that
market lagging because of low orders.
The big state-owned group AESA is still losing a lot of
money and must repay an overage in aid to the EU.
Comparing to 1998, AESA managed this year to get
some domestic orders. It also hopes to obtain several
of the 138,000-cbm LNG carrier orders that will operate
on the Spanish market, in the face of very stiff Korean
competition.
The one-year drop in the orderbook was from 1.11 million gt
to 980,000 gt, as recorded in September 1999.
Finland
Because of cruiseships, representing more than 80% of the
country’s orderbook, Finland has witnessed a stabilisation
of this activity, only dropping from 825,000 gt in the third
quarter of 1998 to 771,000 gt in the third quarter of 1999.
The major news topic of the year was the premier
Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner-Masa’s delivery of the largestever
cruiseship "Voyager of the Seas", a 142,000 gt/
5,000-passenger vessel. However, as mentioned earlier,
the Kvaerner group is seeking a buyer for the shipyard.
Denmark
1999 confirmed another failure and closure of a shipyard, this
time Aahrus Flydedokk, in the wake of Burmeister and Wain
and Svendborg in 1996 and North Sea Shipyard in 1997.
The only remaining yards of any significance are Odense
and Orskov, the latter taking on part of Danyard’s business.
The main shipbuilder, Odense, accounted for more than 80%
of the country’s orderbook with series of large containerships
for the shipowner Maersk of the same group. This shipbuilder
is also feeling pressure for Asian competitors and
has watched its market share fall from 9 to 6% this year.
Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that the
Danish orderbook fell over 12 months from 746,000 gt
to 406,000 gt at the end of 1999.
Netherlands
Dutch shipyards remain among the most dynamic in Europe
but are also suffering from current economic conditions.
Their orderbook went from 709,000 gt in September
1998 to 561,000 gt a year later. The number of vessels
on order, which is the best indicator of the importance
of shipbuilding activity, decreased from 300 to 264.
Cargo vessels dominate the Netherlands' production,
with 67% of domestic market share. The country ranks
second in the world with a 16% market share behind
China (21%), but still leads in terms of ship numbers.
However, this seemingly monolithic production effort
should not obscure the wide talents of Dutch shipyards,
which are always innovating. This year they produced
the first carbon dioxide gas carrier in the world.