Page 10: of Marine News Magazine (January 2012)

BY THE NUMBERSOne of the more interesting and useful reports that comes across our desks is the regular Tug Market Report pro- duced by Marcon International, Inc. The table shown below is only small piece of the wealth of knowledge and data tracked and accumulated by Marcon. The data depicted represents a breakdown of available (for Sale or Charter Worldwide) anchor handling coastal, ocean and harbor tugs around the globe. Marcon also produces separate reports on inland river pushboats and anchor handling tug supply vessels, but his one is particularly telling. Our View Noteworthy for U.S. boatbuilders is the disparity in the average age of U.S. vessels and that of foreign tonnage. An aging fleet of workboats should signal a continued source of business for so-called ?second-tier? shipbuilders who rely on a steady diet of this sort of work. And, if the age of these ?offered? boats doesn?t necessarily point to replacement options for their owners (certainly, aging lesser powered tonnage will not be replaced on a 1:1 ratio), just think of the maintenance work that each hull represents here in the United States. Beyond this, the re-power requirements (alone) for these hulls to remain in compliance with the new emissions standards could probably keep these yards busy indef- initely. Subchapter ?M? is another can of worms, too. We call that reason for optimism. Marcon International?s Market Overview (November 2011) ? A Synopsis A total of 633 tugs are officially on the market for sale worldwide, up 5.3% since August 2011. 194 or 30.7% of the tugs worldwide, primarily foreign flagged, were built within the last ten years, are newbuilding re-sales or currently under construction ? compared to 31.5% at the last report. 58 (9.2%) are over fifty years of age and two tugs are 75 years of age or older. The oldest tugs Marcon currently has listed are two 1931 built single screw tugs (later rebuilt), one in Germany and one on the U.S. Gulf Coast ? and both still reportedly in good operating condition. These two ?old ladies? are balanced by 51 newbuildings up to 8,000HP range scheduled for delivery through 2012. CATs still power most tugs with machinery in 120 or 20% of the tugs Marcon lists for sale. This is followed by 84 Cummins, 61 EMD, 46 Niigata, 31 Yanmar, 28 Deutz, 24 GM and 17 MAK powered tugs. 198 tugs are powered by machinery from other manufacturers from ABC to Wichmann. Conventional single and twin screw tugs contin- ue to prevail with 377 twin and 118 single screw for sale worldwide. Two tugs are triple screw, one a shallow draft quad screw, 108 are azimuthing and 27 are Voith Schneider tractors. The majority of foreign flagged tugs for sale are still in the 3 ? 4,000BHP range. As with the foreign market, 3,000 ? 4,000HP U.S. flag tugs lead the pack as far as numbers for sale with 33 on the market, up from 30 in August 2011. The average age of these tugs slipped two years from the last report to 39 years. These are followed by 31 2 - 3,000BHP U.S. flag tugs averaging 41 years of age. Some newer equipment can periodically be developed on a pri- vate & confidential basis ? especially if sold out of competition and Owners receive tempting offers well above the level of present sales. According to Marcon, tug sales continue at a ?slow bell?, an optimistic view looks for ?a few more sales in 2012,? tempered by limited prospects for improvement until 2013 - 2014. Access the entire 70 page report at: http://www.marcon.com/library/market_reports/2011/tg11-11.pdf. Since its inception in 1981, Marcon has sold/chartered over 1,250 vessels and barges between companies located in the U.S. and worldwide. Contact Marcon: (360) 678-8880, E-mail: [email protected] http://www.marcon.com HP1,000 ?2,000 ?3,000 ?4,000 ?5,000 ?6,000 ?7,000 ?8,000 ?9,000 ?Total < 1,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,000Plus Nov 2011 - Worldwide 741271231438045171563633 Nov 2011 - U.S. 292631331691410150 Nov 2011 - Foreign 45101921106436161153483 Avg. Age - Worldwide 1972198019841991199319911998198419811997 Avg. Age - U.S. 1963196419701972197919691976196819700 Avg. Age - Foreign 1977198419881996199719971999199019841997 Charter - Worldwide 28496984403013141814359 Charter - U.S. 611141372 343063 Charter - Foreign 22385571332810101514296 10MNJanuary 2012 MN#1 (1-17):MN 2011 Layouts 1/5/2012 4:02 PM Page 10