Newbuilding Orders Picking up the Pace

More deals are being reported in the newbuilding market, as ship owners are proceeding with further investments. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “things in the newbuilding pivoted over into a more fervent orbit as of late, given the increased number of fresh deals that came to light during the past few days or so. Finally, we saw some sort of movement in the dry bulk market, that had been in a relatively quiet mood for some time now. Thinking about the current sentiment and overall trend in freight earnings, we can hardly escape from these periodical asymmetries that are noted in terms of new ordering flow. Notwithstanding this, as we approach the closing of the year, some ongoing projects will inevitably surface moving forward. In the tanker sector, activity resumed at a sluggish pace for yet another week. This though, does not necessarily indicate that there are general lack of interest being in place, but rather a more favourable climate towards the SnP market for the time being. In other sectors, we saw the containership market having returned back into action, pushing overall activity at higher levels at this point”.

In a separate note this week, Banchero Costa added that “12 x containerships were ordered in China by OOCL and COSCO for an amount of around $2.86bln. Another significant order was placed in the LNG segment: the joint venture between NYK, MISC, K-Line and China LNG commissioned 5 x 174,000 cbm vessels for delivery 2025/2026. The price is estimated around $250mln each, the ships have already secured 10 years charter to Qatar Energy. In addition Matson Navigation commissioned to Philly Shipyard 3 x 3,600 TEU, deliveries estimated in 2027; the ships will trade cabotage under the Jones Act”.

Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied said that “on the dry bulk side, the momentum in the SnP market seems very prone to continuous fluctuations at this point, in terms of transactions taking place w-o-w. For the time being, the market returned to a more fervent tone, with numerous vessels changing hands, while activity is slightly skewed in favor of the Supramax size segment. Allin-all, when taking into account the persistent pressure noted in freight rates for some time now, coupled with the overall puzzling sentiment, it is hard to see how we can escape the current volatile SnP market regime that we are currently in.

On the tanker side, things resumed on a mediocre trajectory as of the past week, given the relatively limited number of units being reported sold. As we have pointed out in the past, this sluggish pace of late can hardly be considered as indicative of the overall prevailing trend, given the ample amount of buying interest being noted and the current abundance in positive sentiment”.

Banchero Costa added that it was “another active week in the second hand market, with many sales reported. Staring from 2 Japanese Capesizes, the TRUE PATRIOT 180,000 dwt 2016 Imabari (BWTS fitted) and the AQUAFORTUNE 174,000 dwt 2011 Namura, which were reported sold respectively for $39.75mln and $27mln. The NAVIOS TAURUS 76,000 dwt 2005 Imabari was reported sold for $14mln, while the modern eco Ultramax NORD YUCATAN 63,000 dwt 2019 Nantong (BWTS and SCRUBBER fitted) was reported sold for $28.5mln. The supramax segment was very active with many sales reported: the Tess58 BULK CARINA 58,000 built 2016 Tsuneishi Cebu (BWTS fitted) was reported sold at $22mln, the korean built PAN CROCUS 57,000 dwt 2009 STX (BWTS fitted) and the PORTHOS 57,000 dwt were reported sold for $14.7mln and $16mln respectively; the JIN FENG 52,000 dwt 2004 Oshima (BWTS fitted) was reported sold to HK based Buyers for $13.3mln, the JIAN DA 52,000 dwt 2005 Oshima (BWTS fitted) were bought by Turkish Buyers for $13.2mln. Another Japanese unit, the AZZURA 52,000 dwt 2004 IHI (BWTS fitted) was rumoured sold for $13mln.

In the Handy segment, the MANTA CICEK 32,000 dwt 2011 Hakodate (BWTS fitted) was reported sold for $15.15mln. Two very significant sales were reported during the week in the Suezmax segment, both to Greek buyers: the modern Chinese built RS AURORA 159,000 dwt 2018 SWS (BWTS fitted) was reported sold to Delta Tankers for $64mln, while the Korean built KIMOLOS WARRIOR 157,300 dwt built 2013 Samsung (BWTS fitted) was sold at $46mln to Greek interests. Looking at LR2, a considerable deal was done by NAVIG8 which is reported as the new owner of a Daehan resale 115,000 dwt dely 2022 at a price of $72.5mln. Vitol sold 2 x LR2 resale built at Hyundai Vinashin to Lemos for around $75mln each. The scrubber fitted RAFFLES HARMONY 105,400 dwt 2013 Hyundai was reported sold at $41.8mln to undisclosed buyers. The LR1 HOUSTON STAR 75,000 dwt 2004 Hyundai (BWTS fitted) was sold to Turkish buyers at $13mln and the ORTOLAN COCO 74,850 dwt 2009 Brodosplit (BWTS fitted) was reported sold at $20.5mln to Greek buyers. The MR2 ATLANTICA BELL 50,850 dwt built 2006 STX ice class 1A (BWTS fitted) was sold to undisclosed interest at $20.7. The chemical tankers BRO ANNA 16,900 dwt 2008 Gemak and BRO AGNES 16,800 dwt 2008 Turkter were sold en bloc at $27mln to undisclosed buyers, while BERNORA 13,000 dwt 2008 21st Century (BWTS) fitted is rumoured sold to Norwegian buyers for $7.8mln”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide