Laid up

Neatly parked Russian coasters waiting for better days near Svetly on the canal to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave in the Baltic. The pilot informed me that they had been laid up since January of this year, another pilot in Rotterdam told me that they have such underpowered engines that they would be the first to get mothballed, shippers choosing more flexible tonnage. That was his take on events. But I think that regardless of machine power the chances for these ships of seeing any action are slim for the foreseeable future.
Lay ups.
A programme on Swedish Public Radio was discussing the use of fjords and harbours on the west coast of Sweden as possible sites for long term lay ups. Northern latitudes being apparently more attractive due to better security. Another report in the LA Times speaks about Subic Bay in the Philippines where ships are laid up.

Hot and cold lay ups. A hot lay up is where the ship is waiting for a shorter period without cargo with full crew and ready for action, e.g. Subic Bay, because of the risk of typhoons. A cold lay up means a long period of time out of service. Accommodation sealed up, dehumidifiers in all spaces, and shore electricity or extra generator for power, with maybe one or two watchmen onboard. Dead ship in other words, e.g. Labuan in Brunei.

Of course none of this lay up business is new, 20 years ago as cadet I sailed on ships that had been reactivated from lay up after going directly from newly built to idle for several years. Back then it was mostly VLCC’s and other tankers, now it’s mostly large container vessels. The reasons are the same though over capacity and freight rates plummet. It will take time for a recovery, by then plenty ships will have gone to scrap or lay up to push up the freight rates. Then the carousel can start again.