Company: CMDB
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 20FR12B
Source: 0001140361-25-011425
Chunk: 159

Company: Costamare Bulkers Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 20FR12B
Chunk 159
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 the start of 2007 and the end of 2013. Fleet growth then subsequently cooled, averaging 3% across 2015-22.

More recently, dry bulk fleet growth has generally remained moderate, with fleet growth of 3.1% recorded in 2023 and 3.0% in 2024, and with current projections being for approximately 3% expansion in 2025, depending in part on a still fairly uncertain outlook for dry bulk vessel demolition.

Dry Bulk Vessel Newbuilding Activity

Dry bulk vessel newbuild ordering (“contracting”) has been moderate by historical standards in recent years, especially when compared to the period of record ordering seen during the dry bulk “super-cycle” in the late 2000s. In total, 698 dry bulk vessels of a combined 52.7 million dwt were contracted during 2023, up from 37.0 million dwt in 2022 and close to 2021’s 8-year high of 51.7 million dwt, though well below the previous highs of more than 100 million dwt in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013. 580 vessels of a combined 47.3 million dwt were ordered across 2024, down around 10% year over year. By the start of February 2025, the overall orderbook in the sector to 1,354 vessels of 108.4 million dwt, equivalent to just over 10% of current fleet capacity. This is up slightly from recent lows of approximately 8% in late 2020, and remains moderate by historical standards (October 2008: more than 80%, mid-2014: approximately 25%, ten-year average: approximately 12%). Fuel and technology choices remain an area of uncertainty for vessel owners, with no clear “winning” fuel choice having yet emerged. This has likely undermined newbuild contracting volumes in recent years to an extent, as have the long lead times and elevated newbuild pricing which now characterize the shipbuilding sector generally.

Dry bulk vessel newbuilding has traditionally been dominated by shipyards in three countries – China, Japan and South Korea. Over the last decade, Chinese shipyards have been the largest builder country in the sector, delivering 57% of total dry bulk vessel tonnage, while Japanese yards built around 35%, and Korean and Philippine yards together built less than 10%. By February 2025, Chinese yards accounted for 71