Dry Bulkers In Demand as Market Recovers
In the tanker market, interest is fairly strong for modern and vintage VLCCs, with the vintage Sino Marco abt 311k dwt blt 1999 HHI sold to Chinese buyers for region USD 20.5 mln whilst the modern sisters Eco Future and Eco Queen abt 300k dwt blt 2016 DSME are reported sold enbloc to DHT for a price of USD 138 mln (enbloc). In the product tanker market, the Japanese controlled MV Leopard abt 48k dwt blt 2010 Iwagi is sold to clients of Spring Marine for USD 13.2 mln basis SS due but including the BWTS as part of the sale. The st/st chemical tanker Chemroute Sun abt 25k dwt blt 2008 Shin Kurushima is reported sold to Tufton Oceanic for USD 15.2 mln”.
In a separate note, Allied Shipbroking said “on the dry bulk side, a very strong week was seen in terms of transactions taking place. Thinking about the upward momentum from the side of earnings (rather unexpected -for the season-), this came hardly as surprise. Moreover, with seemingly ample buying appetite across the different sizes, as well as, the good flow of deals involving relatively modern units, it seems that we can expect this vivid SnP market to be easily sustained in the short-run at least. On the tankers side, activity remained on a rather mediocre trajectory as of the past week, despite somehow the excessive boost noted just the week prior. However, when taking into account the general uninspiring path in terms of freight returns, these fluctuations in volume seem rather “logical”. For the time being, the tanker sale and purchase market lacks direction, with most seemingly rather hesitant to make any largely speculative choices right now”, Allied noted.
Meanwhile, in the newbuilding market, Allied added that “a slight slowdown was noted in the dry bulk newbuilding market, with the flow of fresh deals coming to light though, remaining at relatively modest levels. At this point, we see focus being placed solely on the Kamsarmax size segment, with a strong number of new orders being snapped up by Chinese shipyards. Notwithstanding this, thinking about the bullish momentum from the side of earnings, as well as, the “competitive” price levels being offered, we expect a robust trend to follow in the coming weeks. At the same time, in the tanker sector, despite the overall bearish mood noted from the side of earnings, we have noticed some sparks of activity in the newbuilding market from time to time, with expectations for further activity to likely emerge in the near term. With the Gas and Container market remaining relatively active, we anticipate a sense of stability to be faced in terms of overall pricing, with a likely uptrend to creep up during the course of the year”.
Banchero added that “Shandong Shipping placed an order of 2 x 85.000 dwt bulkers at DSIC with the total contract price at USD 58 mln and with delivery due in 2022. Densay Gemi Shipping booked 1 x 64.000 dwt bulker at Jinling Shipyard at the price of USD 23 mln and the delivery is due in 2022. Meghna Group Bangladesh inked 4 x 66.500 dwt bulker 36 meters beam at Jiangsu Mitsui (the design from Mitsui’s “NEO series”).
Latsco ordered 2 x 299.000 dwt VLCC at Hyundai for a price of USD 89.3 mln apiece for dely last quarter 2022. Avin Greece placed an order for 1 + 2 159.000 dwt Suezmaxes at New Times for dely 2022 at price of USD 51.5 mln per unit. Eastern Pacific ordered 6 x 14.800 teu at Hyundai for dely last quarter 2022 / 1st quarter 2023 at undisclosed levels. This order is replacing 6 x 12.000 teu ordered previously at Daewoo”.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide