ABSTRACT
The recently released data on the Short Sea Shipping in the EU seas has shown a stable trend in transportation growth. At the same time, the coaster fleet of the East Mediterranean and Black Sea regions (EMBSR) is of considerable age, and the increased freight rates enforce the new orders of multi-purpose ships. The objective of this paper is to analyse the main dimensions of dry cargo ships operating in the EMBSR in the range of 2,000 to 9,500 DWT. The data collected for already built ships is compared to the newly designed ones, accounting for the capital and operational expenditure and required freight rate. Recent investigations demonstrated that the new building of ships in the range of 2,000 to 9,500 DWT is possible to be done in the existing SME ship repair yards in the region. The study investigates the capacity of the shipbuilding industry in the EMBSR. Several conclusions considering the relationships of the deadweight and design governing parameters accounting for the existing production constraints of small and medium enterprises specialised in shipbuilding and repair are also presented.
