The Handy dry bulker proved to be the most sought after ship by ship owners active in the second hand market, which saw a slight decline in terms of demand over the course of the past few days. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Shiptrade noted that its enquiry Index witnessed a slight decrease of about 15% this week, which was mainly driven by a sharp drop of enquiries for Panamax bulkers. According to Shiptrade “taking a closer look into the dry bulk sector, the relevant Index for Handysize bulkers was increased by a considerable 20%, while enquiries for Handymax and Supramax bulkers remained at levels close to those of last week. On the other hand, enquiries for Panamax and Capesize bulkers were sharply decreased by about 50%, with those for Capesize remaining at single-digit levels. On the wet front, with the sole exception of MR tankers, interest in which is always there, all other segments faced losses in terms of buying interest, with the absolute number of enquiries remaining at levels below 10″, said the shipbroker.
In the Sale & Purchase market, Shiptrade reported that “with owners’ expectations for a sharp drop in asset values not materializing so far and current market conditions remaining poor, someone would expect secondhand activity to drop significantly, however, transactions do take place, proving that there are market players that believe in freight rates rebounding, starting from Q3 of this year. The stars of this week were Capesize bulkers and MR tankers, as on the dry front, 5 Capes changed hands, while on the wet front, a total of 4 MRs found their new recipients. Taking a closer look, Greek interests paid $58 mill. for a cape resale ex Qingdao Beihai scheduled for delivery within 2014, with a 2011 Hyundai-blt cape, namely the “Blue Manaslu” sold to Greeks as well for $51.5 mill. In the wet sector, Chartworld have disposed their 1999 built Panamax tanker, the “Star Bravery”, which went to UAE based buyers for $8.5 mill., along with their 1996 built MR “Nedimar”, which fetched the same levels from Greek interests. Last, but not least, enhanced was this week’s secondhand activity in the container market, with a total of 5 units, all built post 2005, changing hands”, Shiptrade said.
Demolition: Weakening
Meanwhile, according to Shiptrade, in the demolition market, “the sub-continent seems to be suffering due to the monsoon season, still following the downward path created during the last 2-3 weeks, however, despite the weakened demand for tonnage, what came as a surprise was the increasing number of sales being concluded in India at relatively good levels, with cash buyers offering prices beyond break even levels. In Pakistan, although an enhanced buying interest came into the foreground last week, local buyers were unable to compete with their Indian “rivals”, thus not securing any tonnage. Add to this the total absence of any wet potential demolition candidates, and there you have it, a week with no sales. Bangladesh has remained silent as well, with the recent budget announcement playing its’ role. No change in China, as activity is restricted solely to domestic tonnage, while Turkey seems to emerge as the destination for smaller LDT vessels, taking advantage of the softening sub-continent prices, keeping local facilities busy”, Shiptrade concluded.
Newbuilding Activity
Meanwhile, according to the latest weekly report from Clarksons Hellas, newbuilding activity over the course of the past week was mainly focused in the dry bulk and gas tanker segments. According to Clarkson Hellas, in dry bulk “Pan Ocean have placed an order for two firm 207,000 DWT Newcastlemaxes at New Times, with both vessels due to deliver within the second half of 2016. Also in China, Conti Reederei have extended their order for 64,000 DWT Ultramax to a total of 20 vessels by declaring a further eight options. The first in the series will begin to deliver in the early part of next year, with the latest additions for delivery from 2017 onwards. In the same sector JJ Ugland have announced an order at Imabari for two firm 63,000 DWT Ultramax due to deliver in 2017. Blumenthal are also understood to have ordered two firm 34,000 DWT Handysize at Hakodate Dock, similarly due for delivery in 2017″.
The shipbroker added that there was “just one order to report in tankers; CSBC (Keelung) have contracted a pair of 40,000 DWT Handy Product Carriers with Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) due to deliver within the final quarter of 2016. A spread of orders across the sizes in the gas market. Starting with the largest, GasLog announced an order for two firm plus up to four option 174,000 CBM LNGCs at HHI. The first vessels are planned for delivery in the second half of 2017 with options from end 2017 and into 2018 if declared. In the midsizes, West Africa LPG have declared an option for one additional 38,000 CBM LPG carrier at Hyundai Mipo, taking the series to two vessels. The first is due for delivery within the end of 2016 and second vessel in early 2017. Epic Gas have ordered a third 7,500 CBM LPG carrier at Sasaki in Japan, with delivery in the final quarter of 2016. Lastly, K-Line have announced two further 7,500 CEU car carriers at Shin Kurushima for delivery in 2017, taking the series to four vessels”, Clarkson Hellas concluded.
