Newbuilding Appetite Returns In the Market

Ship owners have intensified their interest in more newbuilding orders over the past week. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied said that it was “a very satisfying week came to an end for the newbuilding market with buying interest appearing quite strong. It seems that the upward trajectories noted in freight rates have generated ample incentive for further ordering to take place. While we expected that new ordering activity for tanker units will be slower compared to that noted for dry bulkers (if we take into account the different performance noted in freight rates between these two sectors), the upward trend in rates noted in the tanker market of the last weeks has further awakened buying appetite. As shown in the table below, new orders showed a fair variety in terms of ship type but also in the selection of shipbuilders, with China re-emerging strong after the lifting of its COVID lockdown measures. At the same time, it should be noted that we are still seeing a fair amount of momentum in new ordering for both the containership and gas sectors”, Allied said.

In a similar note this week, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “during the week, Capital Gas exercised option for two LNG carrier (abt 174k cbm) at Hyundai Samho bringing the overall order to a total of eight vessels. Reported price per vessel to be $240 mln and units to be delivered during 1st quarter of 2026. COSCO received an order from Knutsen NYK Offshore OAS for a Suezmax shuttle tanker (abt 154k dwt) basis delivery 2024, vessel to be built at Zhoushan facility.

Thenamaris placed an order at Hyundai Vinashin for 2 x LR2 tankers (abt 115k dwt) with delivery during Q1 of 2025. In the container market, Seatrade Groningen agreed with Huanghai shipyard in China to build 4 x 1,800 teu reefer containerships with one to be delivered during end of 2023 for one and the rest during 2024”.

Meanwhile, in the S&P market this week, Allied said that “on the dry bulk side, a large volume of transactions was observed this week as shown in the reported sales, with buying appetite looking to have intensified in the smaller size segments. What we noticed compared to last week’s orderbook is that this week, deals for Panamax units came to light which shows the optimistic feeling that owners still hold over the overall performance of the dry market in the short-term. On the pricing front, asset prices are still holding decade high levels and showing to hold further room for growth. On the tanker side, the number of deals was moderate and this is probably due to the volatility still being noted on the freight market front, making for a fair gap between buying and selling price ideas. We should see further activity emerge in the near term, with further appetite being fuelled by the fair improvement in freight rates as of late. On the pricing front, we have seen some further gains these past few weeks, especially in the Aframax and MR sectors”.

Banchero Costa added that “in the dry market, two modern kamsarmaxes Nord Luna and Nord Lyra abt 82k blt 2020 Yamic (eco ME BWTS fitted) were reported sold to Greek buyers at $38.5 mln each. After offers were invited last week, Japanese controlled Majestic Sky abt 82k blt 2014 Tsuneishi (SS/DD freshly passed, BWTS fitted) was done at $32.5 mln in the past weeks. Majullah Harbourfront abt 82k blt 2014 Tsuneishi Zhoushan was reported at $31.65 mln. Modern handysize Ansac Columbia abt 38k blt 2017 Shimanami (BWTS fitted; ECO ME; SS due 2027) has been sold for $28.9 mln.

In the tanker market, after offers were invited last week VLCC ‘Koho I’ abt 300k dwt built 2002 IHI Marine (BWTS Fitted, Cap 2, SS/DD due 11.2022; 39,500 ldt) has been done for a price in the region $29 mln. German controlled “Angelica Schulte” abt 106 k dwt blt 2005 Sanoyas (BWTS fitted; CAP 1) has been committed for $19 mln to far eastern buyers. One month ago, Almi Star abt 115k blt 2005 Daewoo was reported at $18.25 mln. In the product segment, Celsius Richmond abt 50k blt 2010 Onomichi (SS: 09/2025 – DD: 09/2023, BWTS FITTED) sold for $19 mln”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide