There are 1,966 vessels which have deliveries dates scheduled for 2018. However only 1,100 have hit the water so far this year, meaning 44 percent of the 2018 orderbook is outstanding, according to VesselsValue.

Out of the three top shipbuilding countries, China still has 50 percent of their 2018 orders to deliver within the last two months of the year. Compared to Japan and South Korea, where 25 percent and 28 percent of their respective orderbooks is currently outstanding, Chinese yards could potentially slip 446 vessels into next year's delivery schedule.

Vessel deliveries typically slow down towards the end of the year. If shipowners wait a few weeks, allowing the delivery to slip into the new year, the vessel is considered a whole year younger.

Ship types with the highest number of outstanding 2018 scheduled deliveries include all offshore vessels types (mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) at 75 percent of 2018 vessels still to be delivered, offshore support vessels (OSVs) at 69 percent and offshore construction vessels at 67 percent) and the small dry sector at 54 percent.

In the years prior to the oil price crash, OSVs would typically make up 30-50 percent of U.S. deliveries. However, offshore support vessels made up a reduced proportion of U.S. deliveries with only 13 hitting the water in 2017 versuss 63 in 2014. While the slow down of deliveries is being experienced around the world, the U.S. company Edison Chouset is bucking the trend by taking delivery of 12 OSVs so far this year, with only on still in the schedule.

The Maritime Executive