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Ship Owners Stock Up On Newbuilding Containerships and Gas Carriers

Ship owners have been aggressively booking newbuilding yard slots for containerships and gas carriers. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “the Shipbuilding industry continues to hold its primary focus on the containership and gas carrier sectors, leaving potential buyers in the dry bulk sector with minimal options at hand. We have not seen any excessive ordering as of late despite the record freight earnings and the vivid interest noted in the dry bulk sector, while the recent correction in freight rates is likely to diminish appetite amongst owners. We expect a “wait and see” attitude to take hold of the market during the final quarter of the year. Meanwhile, the further rise witnessed in newbuilding prices as of late is a further bearish factor weighing down on any buying options. On the tanker side of things, the limited interest from buyers continues to hold, given the hurt sentiment and the uninspiring freight earnings being seen in the year so far. Nevertheless, the gradual improvement being noted in the freight market and the expectations for an eventual market recovery, could likely drive speculative ordering in this sector. During this past week, we saw two fresh orders for shuttle and product units. All in all, the current ROI for tanker units is still unattractive, with the “riskier” buyers though possibly looking at an opportunity at hand in the case of a sharp market rebound playing out”, the shipbroker said.

Allied Shipbroking

In a separate note, Banchero Costa said that “during the past week, AMPTC has placed an order for four LR2 tankers (abt 114,000 dwt) at Hyundai at a price level of $81 mln apiece. Deliveries are set for 2023 and 2024. Vessels to be LNG dual fuel. Hyundai Mipo received an order for two 2,500 teu feeders from Tawaianese owner Nam Sung priced at a high $41 mln each.

Source: banchero costa &c s.p.a.

Deliveries are set for 2nd half of 2023. A joint venture between between Arcelor Mittal and DryLog named as Global Chartering Ltd placed an order for 4 x 120,000-dwt mini-Capes at New Times Shipbuilding at just below $40 mln each with deliveries expected during 2023”.

Meawnhile, in the S&P market, Allied said that “on the dry bulk side, several transactions took place during this past week, albeit the overall volume has decline compared to the previous very active weeks. Interest has been focused on handysize units during this past week, a segment with an attractive earnings to investment ratio. As the freight market has entered a correction mode, it is expected that smaller units will continue being at the centre of attention amongst buyers.

Source: Allied Shipbroking

However, given that sentiment is still at overall robust levels, more activity is expected to emerge across the whole size class spectrum as well. On the tanker side, there was an improved number of transactions as of late, with interest expanded amongst buyers, nourished by the first signs of a robust market recovery. However, given the fragility of this recovery, it is questionable if interest will continue to be as vivid over the coming weeks. This past week, product tankers were the prime focus, a trend that is likely to continue to hold”.

Banchero Costa added that “since the charter market is slightly descending, there is a natural slowdown in buying activity. Buyers are now looking for a discount from recent highs, while it remains to be seen whether Sellers are willing to concede some. 5 handy bulkers have been sold in the last week – interestingly, all of them are between the ages of 2010 and 2013, were built in China, and are capable of achieving very strong $16.5 to 18 mln ranges.

Source: banchero costa &c s.p.a.

Wet: A few sales occurred last week, with two LR2 scrubbers set to change hands soon. In fact, “Advantage Arrow” and “Advantage Avenue,” both 115k dwt 2009 Samsungs, were sold en bloc for $52 mln enbloc. In the MR2 segment, three tankers were sold in 2006/2007 with Korean units (IMO ii/iii, etc.) getting a premium of about $1 mln more compared to Japanese units, as was the case for “Star Eagle” / “Star Falcon” 2007 blt – $11.25 mln for the Korean and $10 mln ‘only’ for the Japanese”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

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