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Poor market conditions have forced the State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to go slow on its proposed fleet acquisition during the present fiscal.
The company plans to restrict its order to six-seven vessels during the present fiscal.
Rest of orders – of around 20 vessels - will be placed during the Twelfth Plan (2012-17) period, Mr S. Hajara, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of SCI, has said here.
“We will place orders for additional 6-7 vessels of specific requirements during the year. Rest of the fleet acquisition plan will be executed in the next Plan period,” he said.
Lean period
Mr Hajara was speaking on the sidelines of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of IIM Calcutta. The company previously planned to acquire 62 vessels in the Eleventh Plan (2007-12). Current estimates suggest that the SCI will end up ordering nearly 42 vessels.
According to him, the shipping industry was passing through a very lean period due to slack in global trade and oversupply of fleet.
Oversupply
“Oversupply in the industry is to the tune of 30 per cent in dry bulk and container tonnage and 20-22 per cent in tankers,” he said adding that there would be no revival in the situation before the first half of the next fiscal.
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