London - The global shipbuilding orderbook is increasing at a 27% year-on-year rate, which is the fastest growth since the 2008 financial crisis.

Data from Clarksons Research shows that while the active merchant fleet grew by 4% to reach 117,022 vessels totalling 1.8 billion gross tonnes by early August, the backlog of new vessels on order expanded at nearly 7 times that speed.

The global orderbook currently stands at 9,012 ships totalling 405.9 million gt, creating a backlog that is 70% to 75% larger than the decade-to-date average . . .