Chart of the Day: This is the sorry state of Singapore's largest listed shipbuilders

Order books shrank sharply in 2015.

Large order wins were few and far between for Singapore's largest shipbuilders in 2015. This chart from DBS shows that most builders endured a sharp decline in order wins last year, on back of the prolonged offshore oil and gas downturn.

One of the hardest hit companies is offshore support vessel (OSV) builder Nam Cheong, which saw its net orderbook value crash by 52% to MYR 630 million ($210 m). Another badly-hit company is Vard, which saw its net orderbook value drop by 42% to NOK 10.2 billion ($1.65b).

Apart from shrinking orderbooks, shipbuilders also grappled with record-low utilisation rates, delivery deferrals, and falling asset prices.

"The yards are the last in line in terms of cash flow trickle-through; if vessel and rig owners continue to under-utilise their assets, order wins are likely to remain low for shipbuilders,” said DBS.