Trade in Ships

The world shipbuilding market was highly volatile during the 1970s and 1980s, creating major difficulties for the industry in OECD countries. During a long period of uninterrupted growth in demand for ships during the 1960s, production capacity was built up in Europe and Japan with the expectation that this trend in demand would continue into the 1970s. New orders for ships dropped significantly after 1973, however, due to economic recession and the slower growth in demand for petroleum which hit tanker sales. ¹ World production of ships peaked in 1975 at 36 million gross register tons (grt), with total production capacity standing at 39 million grt. By 1979, ship production was only around 12 million grt, resulting in considerable excess shipbuilding capacity.