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Greeks lead ship scrapping this week, including three capesizes  

London: A trio of capesize bulk carriers are among the vessels sold by Greek shipping companies for demolition on the Indian subcontinent at improving scrap prices.

The flurry of reported sales comes as deals were concluded just before the orthodox Easter break.

Angeliccoussis-led Anangel Maritime is today reported to have sold its capesize Anangel Splendour (161,600 dwt, built 1993). Bangladeshi buyers are reported to have paid $430/lt ldt for the 21,467-ldt vessel, including bunkers remaining onboard, making the sale worth around $9.23m in total.

NASDAQ-listed Star Bulk Carriers is today reported to have sold its 22,455-ldt capesize Star Big (168,400 dwt, built 1996) to Bangladeshi buyers for $420/lt ldt or $9.43m in total. In December, the vessel concluded a five-year timecharter to miner Rio Tinto.

Buyers in Bangladesh paid the same price per ton for NGM Energy’s 22,848-ldt cape Matrix (149,400 dwt, built 1996), bringing in $9.6m for the Moundreas-led company.

Greek-controlled Mallah Ship Management is reported to have sold its open-hatch handysize bulk carrier ABM Dynamic (26,700 dwt, built 1985) for $422/lt ldt to buyers in Pakistan. This is equivalent to a gross price of $2.33m for the 5,520-ldt vessel.

The price paid for ABM Dynamic represents a 15.6% increase on a similar bulk carrier sold on March 25 by an unnamed Chinese owner. The handysize Fortress 7 (23,500 dwt, 5,160 ldt, built 1985) was also built by Japan’s Shin Kurushima yard and was sold to Bangladeshi buyers for $365/lt ldt.

The Indian rupee has seemingly stabilised against the dollar, trading at around the R62 level since the end of January, which has led to Indian scrap buyers offering more attractive prices for vessel sellers.

Tsakos Navigation has sold its 21,390-ldt panamax containership Hanjin Elizabeth (62,700 dwt, built 1992) for $442/lt ldt, including around 350 tonnes of bunkers onboard. GMS, the world’s biggest steel buyer, called the price “phenomenal” in its weekly report, published today.

“It certainly seems that for favored vessels, Indian buyers are prepared to offer over and above market just to secure the unit – such is demand and capacity at present,” GMS remarked.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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