According to shipbroker Vesselvalue.com, totally 539 secondhand vessels of $6.55bn were changed hand in the first six month of this year, declining greatly against the 880 vessels of $11.25bn in the same period of last year. Of all the ship types, cruder oil tanker increased obviously in the period.

The crude oil market is more active since the beginning of this year compared with last year. According to Vesselvalue.com, the tankers for transaction summed at 148 vessels at a total value of $2.41bn, while 198 tankers of $3.38bn were traded in last whole year. Totally 19 VLCCs were transacted in the first six months with a value of $470m while the total trading volume of VLCC in 2012 is about $731m. Richard Rivlin, CEO of Vesselvalue.com, said that the price for VLCC is more reasonable.

In the past twelve months, the price Greek owner paid for secondhand ships has kept declining in a bet on the recovery of spot market. With the secondhand asset value dropping close to the scrapping price, owners has seen a great opportunity to buy ships. However, some owners (especially Japanese owner) are inclined to send elder ships for scrapping instead of selling them to Greek speculators.

About 251 secondhand bulkers worth $2.69bn were recorded changing hand in the same period, further demonstrating the popular of bulk carrier. According to the database of Vesselvalue.com, the trading volume of Capesize bulkers stood at $642m in the first half of the year, while the total volume of 2012 is about $1.17bn.