Bottom reached?

A Lazard Capital Markets analyst says the containership market may be bottoming, or it could have already reached its bottom.

Analyst Urs Dur said Monday that US container ports have seen improvements in container volume, and Asian port throughput also has posted better numbers.

Charter rates are at historical lows but are stable, and while freight rates are also low, fuel costs are falling.

"We are not saying we are out of the distressed times, not by any stretch," Dur said in a note to clients. "Freight rates should stay at these depressed levels for a number of more months. However, there is reason to believe that the container sector is bottoming or has bottomed."

Dur also says the pace of fleet growth in the boxship sector has slowed, and should slow further in the future future.

There are signs that the containership orderbook is becoming smaller "to accommodate the current market."

"But let's not sugarcoat it," the New York analyst said of the orderbook. "There remains a long way to go."

But door said he expects scrapping to beat market assumptions, more order slippage and cancellations that could axe 10% to 15% of the current orderbook, and a continued lack of debt finance for the next year.

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