Cape sales done in March have now been compiled by the online portal VesselsValue, showing 17 vintage capes sold in the month, including four modern newcastlemaxes. The string of fresh deals has pressed prices up, and as Easter closes, brokers are upbeat for more sales in the month to come.
According to BIMCO, five-year-old secondhand cape prices rallied 22% month-on-month in March, reaching $54m. “It is clear that buyers are hoping to take advantage of an expected increase in rates in the short run,” said Filipe Gouveia, BIMCO’s shipping analyst.
The only modern cape sales reported in March were deals two reported weeks apart. At the end of March, George Economou’s TMS DRY was tied to the last newcastlemaxes in the Mangrove Partners fleet. The New York investment vehicle was noted to have fetched $126m in a deal for two 2021-built newcastlemax bulkers named after American football players, the MP The Harrison and MP The Vinatieri. Earlier the same month the sale of two 2020-same sized bulkers, was noted by the same seller, the MP The Bruschi, and MP The Vrabel for around $120m.
Looking at vintage tonnage, the price increase is easy to spot. Owners deciding to let go on ships in recent weeks nclude Hong Kong cape specialist Peter Mok, and his Vision Ship Management, who has let go of one of his three remaining Chinese-built capes, the 2009-built, 180,300 dwt Xin Jin Hai for $23m. In December, the outfit sold another same-aged Dalian built bulker quietly. At that time, VesselsValue estimated that the ship was valued some $3m less.
“To sustain high secondhand capesize prices, rates will need to significantly increase in the coming quarters. While the demand indicators for capesizes look promising, risks to demand still exist,” said BIMCO’s Gouvei
An interesting feature in the segment is that the most active seller of vintage capes is Monaco-based GoodBulk, who started selling ships in March last year. GoodBulk has more than halved its fleet, selling some 16 older capes, while another shipping heavyweight Norden has decided to re-enter the segment with four ship purchases in March, including a pair of GoodBulk’s 2012-built capes, Aquatonka and Aquahaha, for around $28m each.
