Interest in Buying Ships Enters Summer Mode

Ordering of new units has kept its steady pace with 32 contracts, Shiptrade Services S.A. said in its Weekly Market Report.

The preferred vessels on order were dry bulk carriers, with eight new orders for 19 bulkers, while on the wet front, interest mainly focused on the gas segments.

Oldendorff has gone to Jiangsu Hantong for two Newcastlemaxes scheduled for delivery in 2016 for $52 mill. each, with Sungdong securing and order for 1 Capesize bulker from Teh Hu Shipping and Jinling another one from compatriots of theirs for 4 Kamsarmaxes.

Reuben Brothers have secured slots at JMU for 2+2 Kamsarmaxes, with the price being $36 mill. each.

COSCO will pay $28 mill for each of the quartet of Ultras they placed at Guangzhou, with Blue Planet Shipping of Greece ordering three units at Jiangsu Hantong for $27 mill. each, the report adds.

In the wet sector, Dalian Cosco has secured an order for two VLCCs from Tianjin Marine at a price of $100 mill. each, with Chinese Petroleum placing an order for 2 MR tankers ex CSBC for $43 mill. each.

With respect to secondhand tonnage, the majority of market players still feel that prices are far above what they might want to pay, the report said.

The week saw a total of 21 units change hands, with the majority of those being tankers.

In the dry sector, two ex-TMT handies, the “A Handy” and the “B Handy” were sold through auctions, with estimated price being in the region of $19-20 mill.

Other than that, Technomar of Greece has emerged as the buyer of the three 2012 built Crown 58 Supramaxes, in an enbloc deal which involved a 1 year t/c attached to Louis Dreyfus, while Minerva has reportedly paid $19 mill. for the 2009 Jiangsu Hantong-built Supramax “Mandarin Harvest”.

The report adds that three vintage units were also sold: the 1995 built capesize “Cape Warrior” was snapped up by Vista Shipping of Ukraine, while Chinese interests paid $5.9 mill. and $6 mill. respectively for 2 Greek owned Panamaxes, the 1994 built “Themis P” and the 1993 built “Duro”.

On the wet front, two Suezmax tankers built in 2000, the “Cape Bantry” and the “Cape “Balder” have found their new owners, who have paid $17 mill. each, while, moving downwards across the dwt scale, the 2007 built 37k dwt “Pacific Horizon II” fetched a price of $17 mill. from undisclosed interests.

In the chemicall/product tanker segment, the 2008 built 15,000 dwt “Maasen” (epoxy coated/IMO II/ice class 1A) changed hands for $14.2 mill., with the buyers being based in Singapore.

Shiptrade Services