In Hellenic Shipping News 12/10/2016
As 2016 is proving to be the year that newbuilding orders dried out, shipyards around the world are having to face some tough decisions. In its latest report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking noted that “more shipbuilders are making announcements of cutting back operations, be it in terms of labor force or as in some cases closure of facilities. As things look now, it looks as though the South Korean major shipbuilders have been hit the worst, having organized operations in such a way that they require a considerably bigger in flow of fresh orders in order to keep their operations in the black”.
According to Allied, “as things stand now it looks as though even respective governments are starting to slightly turn their back on troubled shipbuilders, something that could lead to a faster pace of consolidation over the coming months. The plain fact of the matter is that the orderbook has tailed off considerably for all vessel types, something that would obviously lead to a lack of requirements for such a large global shipbuilding capacity. Being that it is now looking difficult to lower costs to such a level where prices could really feel attractive to potential buyers in this poor market, we are entering a crucial phase, where those who can squeeze the most amount of efficiency and construction cost will be those who barely survive the storm”, the shipbroker noted.
In a separate newbuilding report, Clarkson Platou Hellas noted that “in tankers, Euronav NV have announced an order for two firm 160,000 DWT Suezmax Tankers at Hyundai Heavy Industries for delivery in early 2018. The duo will be built to Ice Class 1C and will go on a long time charter to Valero Energy Inc.. Thun Tankers have announced a contract for four firm 7,999 DWT IMO2 coated Tankers at Ferus Smit Leer. These Ice Class 1A vessels are set for delivery throughout 2018 and 2019 and will be built to be LNG dual fuelled. The group’s fleet currently consists of close to 30 vessels built at Ferus Smit including tankers, dry bulk and general cargo. In other sectors, DFDS A/S have ordered two firm plus four optional 6,700 LM ROROs at CSC Jinling for delivery in the beginning of 2019 for the firm two units. The vessels will be able to carry 6,700 lane metres of freight equivalent to around 450 trailers. Lastly, Virtu Ferries have signed a contract with Incat Tasmania for one firm 9,000 GT Fast Passenger / Car Catamaran Vessel. This single unit will delivery in 4Q 2018 and will be able to carry 1,134 passengers and 167 cars”, said the shipbroker.
Meanwhile, in the S&P market, VesselsValue noted that “in the Bulker sector, older tonnage has firmed in value this week. The Ten Maru (82,700 DWT,2008, Tsuneishi Zhoushan) was sold to Songa Shipping from Wilmar Ship Holdings for USD 11.3 vs VV value of USD 9.68 mil. The Ocean Crystal (73,700 DWT,1999, Sumitomo) was offloaded by Dryships for USD 3.75 mil vs VV value of USD 2.76 mil
The Fantasy star (56,000 DWT,2005, Mitsui Tamano) was sold to United Shipping Lines by Biko Kisen for USD 8.25 mil vs VV value of USD 7.74 mil. In the tanker sector, older tanker values continue to soften, The Lion City River (106,000 DWT,2007, Namura) was sold by Kumiai Navigation to Avin International for USD 20.40 mil vs VV value of USD 21.79. The Hugli Spirit a MR2 chemical/product tanker (46,900 DWT,2005, Hyundai Mipo) was sold by Teekay Tankers for USD 13 mil vs VV value of USD 14.6 mil. The Minitank Six and the Minitank Five (8,100 DWT,2007, Nokbong) were sold enbloc by Ancora investments to Amoretti Armatori for USD 8 mil each vs VV value of USD 8.25 million”, said the ship valuations’ specialist.
Allied Shipbroking also noted that “on the dry bulk side, activity keeps at firm levels, witnessing another round of modern Kamsarmax sales this week, with prices holding overall stable though there is a sense that slight weakening might be in sight now. The market is still mainly driven by small cliques of buyers with each one of these cliques focused on a very particular segment and age group. Elsewhere, we see a slightly different story with lagging buyers interest. On the tanker side, activity again this week focused on the product tanker ranges, though there is now a feel that buyers are starting to show up for the larger crude carriers once more and more specifically for the large Vls. To what extent this could drive prices moving forward for the large crude carriers, which have seen a notable drop in values over the past couple of months, remains to be seen and will highly depend on sellers attitude”.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
