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First new building orders from Hellenic shipping interests arrive: A sign of improved optimism? |
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Friday, 03 July 2009 |
 After more than eight months of virtually no new building activity, latest reports from local ship brokers indicate that the first order from a Hellenic shipping company for an ocean-going vessel has been reportedly submitted. According to the latest newbuilding report by G.Moundreas & Co., there has been an order for South Korea’s STX Shipyards regarding the building of four MR product tankers,
all with a capacity of 50,400 dwt and scheduled deliveries beginning
from 2010 onwards. The price tag was a reported $42.5 million per unit,
bringing the total cost of the order at $170 million. This price
represents a discount of 15% from the highs of last year for this
particular type of ships. Moreover, the buyer is said to hold an
additional four options, which if exercised would bring the total
investment to $340 million. The shipyard didn’t want to disclose the
identity of the buyer, but it has been confirmed that it’s coming from
Hellas.
Market sources in Piraeus have been indicating that the name of the
owner is Standard Development, a newcomer in shipping, but this is
unconfirmed information and we report with reservation. Brokers also
said that the delivery date of 2010 could mean that the deal is in fact
a repurchase of older contracts, which couldn’t be fulfilled by their
original contractors. But, STX said in a relative announcement, that
the orders are in fact new. The 183-meter long, 32.2-meter wide and
19.1-meter high tanker can navigate at the speed of 15.2 knots. The
vessels will be built at Jinhae shipyard.
According to STX, “the new orders brought the total number of ordered
vessels to 278 worth 18.3 billion dollars (both in Korea and in
Dalian). In particular, since the new orders were achieved when the
merchant vessels sector has been greatly suffering due to the global
financial crisis started last year, it is expected to be a positive
signal of recovery in the shipping building market in the near future”
said the shipyard.
According to Clarkson, a global industry research firm, the number of
vessels ordered in the world till April this year is only 65, worth 1.4
billion dollars. In particular, container carriers, tankers and bulk
carriers account only 16 of the total. Should this order be confirmed
it will represent the first of its kind coming from Hellenic interests
during 2009, which could mean that optimism is returning among ship
owners. Still, the main issue for most of them is the proper management
of their outstanding investment programme, including securing waivers
from banks and delaying deliveries.
However, as the international financial market is slowly stabilizing
and the shipping industry is on the upward trend thanks to recovering
real economies mainly in China, the frozen shipbuilding market has
started to thaw. With BDI index hovering around 3,500 - 4,000 points,
which is another signal for economic upturn, it seems that a number of
deep-pocketed ship owners see now is the good time to place orders
since vessel prices have dropped due to economic slowdown. At
Norshipping 2009 held in Oslo, Norway on June 9, STX Group Chairman
Kang Duk-soo expressed an optimistic view on possible new orders saying
“Discussions on building vessels re-started since April.”
Source: Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News
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