The tanker market is among the key beneficiaries of the recent US-China Phase 1 trade agreement. However, other markets could benefit as well. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “after nearly two years of trade tensions, the US and China have finally signed the long-awaited phase one trade deal, helping to ease economic fears and boosting market confidence. The Trump government claims an enormous win as well as a political victory, being able to make progress where previous administrations have failed. The centrepiece of the trade agreement ...

The tanker market enjoyed a solid growth run during the month of December with Aframaxes posting the biggest gains, OPEC said in its latest monthly report. The tanker market experienced a general strengthening trend in December as freight rates in both the dirty and clean segments of the market increased. On average, dirty tanker spot freight rates rose by 29% from the previous month on the back of increased tonnage requirements, tonnage tightening and high bunker prices. Enhanced market activities were seen to drive rates higher in all areas, affecting ...

Capital Ship Management Corp. took successful delivery today of the newbuilding vessel M/T ‘Aristofanis’, a 115,000 dwt, eco-type crude oil tanker, built by Daehan Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, S.Korea. It is the second of two sister ships to be delivered in January 2020. Source: Capital Ship Management Corp.

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) surged last year, even though it was a volatile one for dry bulk shipping rates. Overall, shares of the shipping company rallied 29.2%, which was just ahead of the S&P 500’s 28.9% gain. With the shipping stock surging last year, investors might be wondering if it has any more room to run. Here’s a look at the case for and against buying shares right now. The bull case for Star Bulk Carriers One of the drivers of last year’s rally was a move that ...

The shipping industry will have to plan ahead this year, using a number of assumptions and scenarios, which are expected to hurt global trade and cargo demand. For the most part, predicting where the market will be in a few weeks’ time is proving to be harder and harder, as there are various parameters in play. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied noted that “uncertainty in the global geopolitical sphere seems to have not come to an end along with 2019, as 2020 commenced with renewed tensions between the ...

Diana Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Aquavita International S.A., for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Astarte. The gross charter rate is US$11,750 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum fourteen (14) months to about sixteen (16) months. The charter is expected to commence on January 18, 2020. The “Astarte” is a 81,513 ...

With availability no longer an issue, ship owners are lamenting the significant rise in operating costs, due to the IMO 2020 rule. The reason being the almost doubling of fuel costs. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “the early days of IMO 2020 coming into force have certainly had an impact on the industry, but so far it seems that those who feared of major problems for global shipping have not been verified and it looks like we have avoided the destructive consequences. Lack of availability of ...

A condition-based monitoring program, devised for the marine industry by SKF, enables ship operators control costs and avoid damaging equipment breakdown. One leading operator, Capital Ship Management Corp. (Capital), has been investigating condition monitoring strategies since 2006, in order to reduce the maintenance costs and minimize the unexpected machinery & equipment breakdown. Together with SKF, Capital came up with an effective strategy by utilizing a new handheld device, launched recently by SKF; the SKF Quick Collect. The company has implemented the solution across a fleet of 30 vessels, with a ...

In January 2020, Global Marine Travel (GMT) invested in Argo Travel Group’s (Argo) Marine Division. This partnership between Argo and GMT offers a more robust global network and combines industry leading expertise in Marine Travel under a new brand, Argo Marine Travel. The combined venture will continue to focus on servicing our esteemed clientele with the same high level of quality, reliability, responsibility and fast global response times that have been provided by Argo since 1952, and GMT since 2001. This strategic partnership demonstrates a joint commitment towards continuously enhancing ...

Pyxis Tankers Inc., an emerging growth pure play product tanker company, yesterday announced that it has completed the sale of the Pyxis Delta, a 2006-built 46,616 dwt product tanker. The sale proceeds will be used to repay outstanding indebtedness secured by the vessel and for general corporate purposes. Valentios Valentis, our Chairman and CEO commented: “This transaction furthers our operating strategy to focus on modern eco-MR tankers and reflects a more efficient allocation of capital resources to improve our financial condition. We are well-positioned to generate significant cash flows from ...

We are happy to inform you that Euploia is exclusively representing the JSC Western Ships Agency as part of Western Shiprepair (member of BLRT Grupp), providing Agency services to vessels that are calling Klaipeda and Tallinn ports for loading/discharging, repairs and other operations. Our JSC highly qualified partners have experience in providing Agency, Chartering, Freight Forwarding & Ships Supply Services for more than 16 years and are always ready to offer the solution for your requests, being one of the biggest agency companies in Klaipeda Port. The connections with relevant ...

Dry bulk owners are still keen on more investments in dry bulk tonnage, both newbuildings and second hand vessels, despite the fact that the dry bulk market is experiencing one of its most severe periods of downwards pressure, now at a 9-month low. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that in the newbuilding market, “despite the fact that the current freight market and global trade prospects remain uncertain for the dry bulk market, 13 new units were added recently to the dry bulk orderbook. The majority of ...

Performance Shipping Inc., a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of vessels, today announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program to purchase up to an aggregate of US$6.0 million of the Company’s common shares. As of the date hereof, the Company has 49,021,001 issued and outstanding common shares and another 1,500 Series B-2 preferred shares issued and outstanding. The timing and amount of any repurchases will be determined by the Company’s management team and will depend on market conditions, capital allocation alternatives, applicable securities laws ...

With 2019 marking one of the low-points of the past decade, in terms of ships’ demolition activity, things need to pick up pace in 2020, for the shipping markets to start recovering. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas noted that “the first full week return to the offices of the New Year looks to have finally brought back some renewed optimism with increased demand for tonnage across the waterfront. One surprise, but very welcome, has been the resurgence of Pakistan which appears finally to have awoken from ...

2020 has already started with a “bang” when it comes to the tanker market after the latest developments in the Middle East. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “2020 is already turning out to be a highly volatile year. Most tanker freight markets have remained extremely firm over the first two weeks of January whilst geopolitical risk has ratcheted up once again. The US killing of General Soleimani, followed by Iran’s retaliatory action could have had major repercussions for the oil and tanker markets. However, aside from ...