The popularity of LNG tankers among newbuilding orders is rather evident over the past few weeks. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “December closed and the new year began with activity similar to that of the previous few weeks. Investment in LNG continued amid expectations of high European demand over the coming years and strong global growth in the sector well into the next decade. The Republic of Congo is set to receive its second floating LNG facility and Petronas, an early investor in FLNG, will acquire its third facility if construction goes ahead as planned. In sharp contrast to the flurry of orders around the end of November, only one tanker order was placed in the past two weeks. An order for two Newcastlemax vessels by Eastern Pacific took December’s total to four. Newbuilding prices for bulk carriers and tankers continued to move in opposite directions, perhaps leading us towards a period where bulkers represent a more attractive investment than they have lately”.
Banchero Costa also noted in its weekly report that “in the dry segment, Eastern Pacific booked 2 x 211,500 dwt NewCastlemax from Japan Marine United; both vessels have conventional engines. In the car carrier sector Japanese owner Santoku Senpaku placed an order for 6 x 7,500 ceu whose construction shall be shared by Fujian Mawei and Xiamen Shipbuilding; these orders are supported by a 10 years charter to Guangzhou Ocean Car Carrier Shipping. In the LNG sector Mitsui O.S.K. booked an order at Daewoo for a single VLGC, delivery in December 2026.
Asyad Shipping, which is behind the management of Oman’s gas carriers, seems to have placed an order for 2 x VLGCs at Hyundai Samho; the price for each unit is $250.3mln with delivery set for end 2025 and Spring 2026. In the tanker market, Sumitomo received an order for 2 x 115,000 dwt Aframax tankers. Undisclosed owners are behind the order of 4 x 25,150 dwt product tankers at Asakawa Shipyards. Chinese yard Zhoushan Changhong will build 2 x 50,000 dwt product tankers, deliveries within the end of 2024, while MODEC placed an order for a VLCC size FPSO at Dalian Shipbuilding, for delivery in June 2026”.
Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied said that “the dry sector saw an increased number of transactions compared to last week, dominated almost entirely by the Supramax and Capesize segments, followed by a couple of sales of Handysizes. After a period of significant weakness in the dry bulk market, with freight rates towards the low-end of the five-year range, there have been minor signs of recovery, mainly in light of China’s economy restarting, which subsequently wetted buyers’ appetite. For the tankers, the narrative stands at the same positive note as its dry counterpart. The majority of assets sold, was revolved around smaller vessels, mostly MRs, LR1s and Aframaxes. This comes in agreement with the market sentiment, where freight rates for larger segments has seen a considerable decline, as the market settles after the Russian embargo ruckus”.
Banchero Costa mentioned that “clients of United Maritime London were reported to be the Buyers of 2 Capesize Japanese built: the Goodship 177,500 dwt built 2005 Mitsui and the Tradership 177,000 dwt built 2006 Namura were sold around $36.25mln en bloc. Again in the Capesize segment the Amity 180,300 dwt built 2009 Dalian was sold for $19.2mln and the Aquahope 177,200 dwt built 2007 Namura was reported sold around mid $18mln.
On Supramax, the Alegre III 55,800 dwt built 2007 Kawasaki was reported sold for $14.7mln to Indonesian Buyers and the Royal Fairness 55,650 dwt built 2011 Mitsui was reported sold for $16mln. 2 Kanda built Handies were reported sold: the Galene M 33,000 dwt built 2011 was sold at $14.1mln and the Corkscrew 33,200 dwt built 2010 changed hands for $13.75mln. On tankers, 4 VLCC were reported: the Ellinis 306,500 dwt built 2007 Daewoo at $57mln, the vessel is BWTS fitted and Scrubber fitted, the Cosgreat Lake 298,800 dwt built 2002 NAKS at high $30smln, the FPMC Honor 298,000 dwt built 2008 Universal at 55mln, the vessel is BWTS fitted and Scrubber fitted and the Asia Dawn 281,400 dwt built 2005 IHI at low $49smln”, the shipbroker concluded.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
