As long as lockdown measures apply to many parts of the world, the recovery of global demand is bound to take much longer. In turn, this will hinder the recovery of the freight rate market, which has been nosediving for the most part, since the summer months. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbrokingg said that “we are slowly coming to the end of what has been one of the toughest, most volatile and unpredictable years noted in over a decade for the global market economy. Any past trends ...

Newbuilding orderbooks have dipped to historically low levels relative to existing fleets, with the dry bulk carrier sector one of the most extreme examples. “The current bulker orderbook of 56.1 Mdwt represents just 6.3% of the existing capacity, the lowest percentage in almost 30 years,” said Derek Langston, Head of Research at leading shipbrokers SSY. “At the same time, the dry bulk carrier fleet is ageing: the ratio of 15+ year old vessels to the orderbook is the highest since 2003.” While these trends are partly due to uncertainties over ...

Have Nordic countries laid down a roadmap for the rest of the world to follow when it comes to decarbonising shipping? New research from the International Transport Forum (ITF) believes so. Its recently published Lessons from the Nordic Region report concludes that Nordic countries are among those with the highest ambition and greatest number of maritime technology demonstrations in the world. Consequently, the Forum has showcased the pioneering efforts being made by Nordic countries to reduce the environmental impact of maritime shipping, aiming to encourage more cohesive global decarbonisation efforts. ...

Ships’ recycling activity took a nosedive over the past few days, as Diwali celebrations hindered the flow of sales. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “with Diwali celebrations continuing into the early part of this week, it meant that the week got off to a sluggish start and frustratingly never really recovered from this, with no new sales reported. This is due to many Owners still hanging onto their tonnage to reap the rewards of the freight market or still manage to find secondhand Buyers ...

In the following weeks Klaveness Research will in a series of articles have a look at how we believe the fundamentals impacting dry bulk freight rates are shaping up for 2021. In the first article we started off by having a look at the big picture. In the second, third, and fourth article we drilled further down into the details of the seaborne iron ore, coal and grains market. This week’s article will be on the minor bulks trade. In subsequent reports we will drill further down into the seaborne ...

The Round Table of international shipping associations pen open letter to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. • The Round Table of international shipping associations pen open letter to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos • 90% of global trade relies on shipping – underpinning success of key retail dates like Black Friday and Cyber Monday • COVID-19 and GHG emissions also key topics of discussion The leaders of the major shipping bodies met virtually to discuss the most pressing issues facing the industry as we move into 2021. The Round Table chairs reiterated ...

This year, tanker shipping will not benefit from the usual strong winter seasonal effect. Though the new lockdowns being introduced in many countries are less strict than in the spring, the effect on tanker shipping will be worse, given the oil supply glut of Q2. The news of an effective vaccine offers some hope of a global oil demand recovery but, however it comes about, it will be slow and drawn out, and it will be at least 2022 before global oil demand returns to pre-pandemic levels. Demand drivers and ...

Transitioning to a predictive maintenance framework requires a holistic approach and a corporate culture shift which embraces collaboration amongst departments, people upskilling, technology, data analytics and processes’ redesign. PwC Greece addressed the important issue of digital transformation in shipping operations by presenting its insights during an online event titled “Digital Transformation in Shipping Operations. From Planned to Predictive Maintenance – A digital transformation framework for vessels” organised on 19 November 2020. The event was attended by shipowners, COOs, CFOs, Heads of Procurement and Heads of Technical departments of shipping companies ...

Ship owners have reverted to their year-old “habit” of opting for second hand dry bulk carriers, instead of newbuildings. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied said that it was “a week with limited interest in the dry bulk newbuilding market, with just one fresh transaction taking place, a trend that is likely to hold as we are reach closer to the year’s close. This came as a continuation to the subdued action that we had noted in the year so far. Compared to the number of new contracts that ...

The second half of the year has provided some cheer for the dry bulk market, with all ships in the spot market averaging earnings above the break-even point, though not high enough to make up for losses made during the first part of the year. Seasonal factors are currently increasing demand, while geopolitical developments, in particular around Chinese coal imports, are pulling on the brakes. Demand drivers and freight rates The second half of this year continues to prove much stronger than the first with China continuing to make up ...

The likely replacement of the LIBOR at the end of 2021 creates difficult technical and practical issues for all sectors of business and finance. The concerns intensify as the projected deadline grows closer against a background of some continuing uncertainty and lack of consensus about the details of the approach to take. Some recent developments are worth noting and putting in context for the shipping industry and ship financiers. There are issues both for loans now being documented – and also for all LIBOR-based deals likely to continue beyond 2021. ...

Greek ship owners have been rather active in the dry bulk S&P Market this year, with the second half of the year, proving to be a much more active period for deals. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “as we are moving towards the end of the year, the overall deal landscape of the dry bulk sector corresponding to the second half of 2020 (up to date), offers a further analysis when it comes to comparison with the first. Specifically, the table below illustrates that the S&P ...

A fall in Chinese coal demand and a second round of European virus lockdowns has deflated a nascent dry bulk recovery, despite strong demand for iron ore. The latest MSI HORIZON* monthly sector report notes that spot freight rates for all bulker benchmarks peaked in early October and have weakened since. The rapid pace of decline in Capesize rates is particularly surprising given China imported 107m tonnes of iron ore in October, up 15% yoy, with a considerably higher proportion obtained from longer haul sources Brazil and South Africa. The ...

Innovation is touching every corner of the shipping industry, with major changes underway in the way owners are buying bunkers. Rising oil volatility has caused an increasing number of shipping companies to start procuring their fuel months in advance. The easing of oil contango has also brought future prices in line (and even temporarily cheaper) than spot prices. To capture this rising demand, new platforms have emerged to make bunker hedging faster and easier than buying on the spot market. “Spot purchasing has always worked for us, so why change ...

Ship owners have to contemplate their future plans after an inconclusive meeting last week at the IMO. While some issues were addressed, no major breakthrough took place in the fuels arena. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “this week the IMO agreed short term measures to address climate change. For many, it was felt that these measures lacked the ambition needed to reach the IMO’s goal of reducing total GHG emissions by 50% and carbon emissions by 70% by 2050. The short-term measures will see even stricter ...