Tsakos negotiates contract switch from boxships to tankers with Korean yard
Illustrative of where pundits think the markets will go in 2023, Alphaliner is reporting Greece’s Tsakos Shipping and Trading is negotiating the conversion of orders for two 2,782 teu container vessels into contracts for suexmax tankers, citing numerous broking reports.
Tsakos has eight 2,782 teu boxships under construction at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea, and if the Greek owner succeeds in negotiating a contract switch the suezmaxes would need to be built at larger sister yards of Hyundai Mipo, such as Hyundai Samho or Hyundai Heavy Industries.
“[C]ontainer ship owners have become concerned about the industry’s massive vessel orderbook, which will see record deliveries in 2023 and 2024,” Alphaliner noted in its most recent weekly report, adding: “The market might well struggle to absorb all this new capacity and more and more carriers and non-operating owners have turned to the shipyards to inquire about container ship order deferrals, cancelations or conversions into other ship types.”
More carriers and non-operating owners have turned to shipyards to inquire about boxship order deferrals, cancellations or conversions
Alphaliner suggested that smaller box tonnage could be delayed in particular as this niche will face “increasing pressure” from vessel cascading.
Peter Sand, chief analyst at freight rate platform Xeneta, told Splash last week that he expects 25% of the scheduled orderbook will be postponed, while no more than 10% is expected to be cancelled – and that would probably be options not called rather than outright and expensive cancellings.
