Dry Bulk: Larger Vessels in High Demand

Larger dry bulk carriers have been in high demand among shipowners lately. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “off the back of orders for four Ultramax vessels last week, another three were reportedly ordered at the same yard, Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding, by Indonesian firm Tanto Intim Line. Ultramax vessels have accounted for over half of dry bulk newbuildings so far this year and is a part of the trend among owners for vessels for larger vessels within the smaller size segments. Over 2023 and 2024, over 70% of deliveries of these vessels will be for Ultramaxes, around 10% for Supramaxes and roughly 20% Handymaxes. Continued interest in gas carriers remained, although in the form of a considerably smaller 45,000 CBM vessel than seen in recent weeks. With the tanker market seemingly still holding some pull and amid continued excellent clean earnings and, in their words, ‘historically low tanker fleet growth’ and ‘strong fundamentals’, Performance Shipping has invested US$ 62.5m in an LNG ready LR2/Aframax tanker”.

In a separate note, shipbroker Banchero Costa said that “several orders were reported for Aframax tonnage. Yangzijiang Shipyard received two orders for a total of 4 x 115,000 dwt LR2. 2 units were ordered by the Greek Owner Pantheon Tankers for a reported price of $59.7 mln apiece, deliveriesin 2026. The other 2 were ordered by Union Maritime at $59.5 mln, dely in 2025. Another significant order in this segment is the one placed by Performance Shipping at Shanghai Waigaoqiao: the Greek Owner booked a single scrubber fitted and dual fuel LNG ready LR2 at $62.6 mln, dely in 2025. Prices remained firm in the LNG segment where N.Y.K. placed an order for 3 x 174,000 cbm units at Hyundai Samho for a strong $255 mln each, dely settled in 2027. In the container market, Taiwanese Owner Wan Hai Lines added 3 x 3,050 teu feeders to its orderbook; the vessels will be built by Japan Marine United and delivered in 2025, the price reported around $48.8 mln each”.

Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied said that “secondhand sales activity picked up their pace last week, with the volume of transactions elevated compared to the average. In the dry bulk sector, buying appetite remained constrained, despite the market rally after a period of really low rates. There was no strong preference to a specific size segment, with transactions taking place across the board.

In terms of vintage, the average age of vessels bought and sold last week was 11 years. In the tanker sector, activity was much stronger, especially after a couple of more conservative weeks. The big chunk of the transactions revolved around the MRs, with multiple en-bloc sales pushing this number at higher than usual levels. Also there’s been a small uptick in the VLCCs, especially given the exceptional gains noted in the segment last week”, the shipbroker concluded.

Banchero Costa added that “the Capesize ELIZABETH II 180,000 dwt 2007 built Imabari was reported sold to undisclosed buyers at $17.15 mln. The Chinese eco Kamsarmax XIN HONG 82,000 dwt 2013 built Dalian (BWTS fitted) was rumored sold to Greek Buyers at $20.55 mln and the Panamax MOON GLOBE 74,000 dwt 2005 built Hudong-Zhong was reported sold at $10.5 mln. Stronger prices for modern, eco tonnage in the Ultramax/Supramax segment: a Crown 63 design, the SOHO PRINCIPAL 63,000 dwt 2016 built Yangzhou Dayang was rumored sold to undisclosed Buyers at $26.6 mln, the IVS PINEHURST 58,000 dwt 2015 built Tsuneishi Cebu was reported sold at $23.25 mln. The Handysize OCTOBREEZE ISLAND 38,000 dwt 2011 built Shimanami (BWTS fitted) was rumoured sold to undisclosed at $15.4 mln and the GALLEON 28,000 dwt 2014 built Imabari (BWTS fitted) was reported sold to Greek Buyers at $14 mln”

In the wet market, the shipbroker added that there was “another profitable asset play in the VLCC market: the KASSOS I 318,000 dwt 2007 built Hyundai Samho (scrubber fitted) was sold by Greek shipowner Aeolos Management for $60 mln to UAE buyers. The ship had been bought by Aeolos from Ensel for around $35 mln in April 2018. Quite an active week in the MR segment with several Korean and Japanese built ships reported sold. The NAVIGARE PARS 51,000 dwt 2012 built STX (BWTS fitted) was sold to Socomar for $32 mln and the ATLANTICA BAY 46,763 dwt 2007 built Sungdong (BWTS fitted) went to undisclosed buyers for $22 mln. Two vintage Handy Tankers were sold en bloc to Turkish buyers for $26 mln: BALTIC WAVE and BALTIC WIND both 37,000 dwt 2003 built Hyundai”, Banchero Costa concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide