Ship owners are turning towards second hand ships in the post-pandemic era, at least for now, turning their backs on newbuilding orders. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “on the dry bulk side, the relatively good momentum in the SnP market continued for yet another week, with both the activity being noted and buying appetite seemingly re-emerging at a fast pace. As of the past week, we experienced a good flow of transactions in the bigger size segments too (and for more modern units), helped (to some degree at least) by the strong upward trend noted in freight rates during the same time frame. All-in-all, with a far more bullish attitude currently being portrayed in terms of forward returns, we can expect things to ramp up further in the near-term. On the tanker side, total activity noted seems to be on a softening path as of the past few weeks, given the relatively mediocre number of vessels changing hands. Whether this is circumstantial or a new trend remains to be seen. Notwithstanding this, given the recent positive spikes in freight earnings, we can expect a vivid sales market once more”.
In a separate note, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “in the dry market 2 x Capesize units were reported sold during the week: New Stage 177,000 dwt built in 2008 at Namura was sold at $16.5 mln and Aqua Glory 171,000 dwt built in 2003 at Sasebo at $9.5 mln to Jiangsu Steamship. In February Shinyo Alliance 176,000 dwt built in 2005 at Universal was done at $14 mln. Furthermore, a modern Kamsarmax Aquavita Air 81,000 dwt built in 2020 at Oshima was purchased at $28.5 mln by Greek buyer. In the Supramax segment a Norwegian controlled unit Rosita 52,000 dwt built in 2004 at Tsuneishi Cebu was sold at $6.6 mln to Chinese buyer, previous week Odiris 53,000 dwt built in 2005 by Imabari was done at $6.55 mln. Concerning Handysize units, Ikaria Island 32,000 dwt built in 1997 at Onomichi was sold at $3.4 mln to Lebanese buyer basis DD passed. Last month UBC Bremen 24,000 dwt built in 1998 at Saiki was reported at $ 2.5 mln. In the tanker market, buying interest was focused in the Aframax segment: 2 x Aframax units, controlled by Minerva, Minerva Zenia and Minerva Alexandra 105,000 dwt built in 2002 and in 2000 at Daewoo and Samsung were reported at $24 mln en bloc and Seadance 105,000 dwt built in 1999 at HHI at $9.5 mln to Middle East Buyers. Furthermore, 2 x Chemical Tanker units Adfines Sky and Adfines Sun 19,000 dwt built in 2011 at Yangfan (marine line coated, IGS and Ice class 1A) were bought by Swedish buyer at $10 mln each”.
Meanwhile, in the newbuiding market things are quite different. Allied said that “it was another week of soft interest levels being noted for new newbuilding projects, as poor global economic outlook still overshadows buying interest. However, the recent impressive rally in freight earnings noted in the dry bulk market may eventually lead to a fresh series of enquiries coming to light, helped in part by the slight correction that has started to be noted in newbuilding prices. In the tanker market, freight earnings seemed to be tacking a completely opposite direction, with sharp corrections still being noted across most segments, dampening buyers’ interest though only slightly since earnings are still at considerably “good” levels. Despite the fact that market fundamentals have deteriorated slightly in recent weeks; they still hold for fairly positive conditions to be experienced in the long term. As such, this drop in newbuilding activity may well be temporary in nature and not anticipated to hold for long”.
Banchero Costa added that “Hyundai Mipo, S. Korea agreed a Letter of Intent with Saudi Arabia’s Bahri for up 6 + 4 MR2 50,000 dwt Product/Chemical Carriers. Price could end up in the region of high $30 mln each, as the specification is high and with several extras. Deliveries were set from mid-2022 onwards. The Japanese Sumitomo received a second vessel order for a 105,000 dwt Aframax from their existing client Samos Steamship of Greece at a price of $43 mln for delivery in June 2022”, the shipbroker concluded.
Source:- Hellenic Shipping News
