Page 72 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - SEPT 2025

On the seafront

the fleet’s energy transition. The busiest short sea shipping
Fleet expansion in 1H 2025: The highest What’s next ports in Europe
growth seen in the Supramax/Ultramax The Hong Kong Convention has the “Key figures on Europe - 2025 edition”,
The first half of the year saw a net fleet potential to pave the way for greener published in July, provides an overview
growth of 207 vessels (adding 15.34m ship recycling practices and to drive an of recent developments in the EU,
DWT), driven by 248 deliveries against increase in demolition activity. That said, covering topics from people and society
just 41 removals. the current fleet age profile suggests to the economy, business, environment,
The strongest growth was in the Hand- greater potential for vessel removals and natural resources. Short sea ship-
ymax/Supramax/Ultramax segment, in the smaller size segments, compared ping is the maritime transport of goods
which expanded by 89 vessels, adding with Capesize tonnage, which seems over relatively short distances, primar-
nearly 6 million DWT. In comparison, to attract shipowners' interest, sup- ily between ports in the EU (sometimes
the Panamax/Kamsarmax segment ported by China’s sustained iron ore candidate countries and EFTA coun-
grew by 41 vessels, totalling about 3.3 import demand and robust Brazilian tries), as well as ports situated in geo-
million DWT. export volumes. Brazil’s iron ore exports graphical Europe, on the Mediterranean
in July reached a record 41 million mt, and Black Sea.
Demolition activity: Ageing continues up by 4.7% year-on-year, according to In 2023, the total weight of goods trans-
as retirements lag government data released on 6 August. ported to and from main ports in the EU
Demolition activity remains at critically On the demand side, July also marked by short sea shipping was 1.6 billion
low levels, allowing overaged vessels the third consecutive month in 2025 tonnes; this was equivalent to a decrease
to stay in service and adding pressure where China’s iron ore imports sur- of 5.4% when compared with 2022.
to the future vessel supply and demand passed 100 million tonnes, underscor- Rotterdam in the Netherlands was by far
balance. From January to June 2025, ing a trend of elevated monthly intake the busiest EU port in terms of goods
only 36 vessels were scrapped, totalling despite weakening domestic steel pro- transported (handling 159 million
just 2 million DWT. Handysize vessels duction. If ship recycling activity stays tonnes, i.e., 9.9% of the EU total).
accounted for the largest share of remov- muted while deliveries continue to rise, The second busiest port was that
als (13 units), followed by Panamax/ smaller and medium vessel size seg- of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium (with 119
Kamsarmax vessels (12 units), Handymax/ ments will continue experiencing over- million tonnes), which was almost twice
Supramax/Ultramax vessels (9 units), supply risks in 2026, while Capesize as busy as the third-ranked port, Gdańsk
and Capesize/VLOC vessels (2 units). markets may remain shielded by the iron in Poland (with 61 million tonnes).
At this pace, overaged vessels will con- ore trade fundamentals. The port of Piraeus ranked 13 among
th
tinue to crowd the market, delaying Source: Allied QuantumSea Research the top 40 ports in the European Union,
70 NX