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MOL gas carrier sale shows declining asset values

Dire rates for LPG carriers have wiped millions of dollars off vessel values over the past six months, data shows.

MOL sold its midsize LPG carrier (MGC) Gas Oriental (35,533 cbm, built 2003) to unknown Greek interests for $22m, which is way below the vessel’s estimated market value, analysis says.

Online valuation platform Vesselsvalue.com (VV) estimates the Korean-built ship’s current market value at some $28.92m.

But this figure is 37% below what it was six months ago – VV put the 13-year-old ship’s market value at $46.44m on January 10 (see graph).

“This time last year, a VLGC was able to command around $3m per month; however, this has now dropped to $460,000 per month. MGCs are suffering the same drops, with rates around $1.1m per month last year compared with the current rates of $600,000 per month,” VV told Splash.

A 2016-built, 23,000-cbm MGC’s market value today is around 35.45% less than 12 months ago, according to VV data. A 2011-built vessel is worth 37.63% less. 

Asset value depreciation in the midsize segment has been more dramatic than in the VLGC segment, even though freight rates for the latter have been hardest hit.

The market value of an 82,000-cbm LPG carrier built in 2016 has declined around 21.46% over the past 12 months, VV says. That of a 2011-built vessel has dropped 24.10% over the same period.

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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