The sale and purchase market was again dominated by tanker sales this past week, while there was also a noticeable pick up in boxship deals on the back of the current solid charter rates on offer across many container ship sizes. Bulker investments, however, have been thin on the ground with the Baltic Dry Index edging close to record low territory this week.
“On the dry bulk side, a small ease back in terms of transaction volumes was noted during the past week. Notwithstanding this, for the supramax/ultramax size segment, it was a rather good week, with a good flow of units changing hands and with interest varying between different age levels. All-in-all, as we mentioned many times, given the overall turbulent scene, that may be sustained for a longer period than previously expected, the ups and downs in total activity will be one of the main characteristics of the upcoming period,” Allied Shipbroking said in its most recent weekly report.
More than five major shipbroking houses reported the sale of the 2012-built 93,000 dwt post-panamax bulker Ocean Sapphire. The Chinese-built vessel was sold by Noble Group to Greek interests for a price of $13m. The sale leaves restructuring Noble with just six ships in its fleet.
Banchero Costa, Lion Shipbrokers and Anchor Shipbroking all listed a deal in which South Korean owner Joong Ang Shipping sold its 2011-built 81,000 dwt kamsarmax bulker Sunny Young to Greek buyers. The DSME-built vessel has fetched a price of $15.5m.
Advanced Shipping & Trading reported the sale of the 2004-built 73,600 dwt panamax bulker Edelweiss. The Chinese-built vessel was sold by Greek owner Mylonas Charalambos’ Transmed Shipping to Chinese interests for $7.4m.
“On the tankers side, it was another strong week despite the slow down in the VL market in terms of activity noted. With the overall buying appetite remaining ample and given the better sentiment from the side of earnings, we may well expect a robust flow of transactions for the upcoming period at least. At this point, the main focus has shifted once again towards the MR segment, with a plethora of units changing hand the last couple of days,” Allied Shipbroking noted.
Both Allied Shipbroking and Lorentzen & Stemoco reported an en bloc sale by German owner Koenig Cie. The company sold two Hyundai-built 159,000 dwt suezmax tankers Cape Bellavista (2002-built) and Cape Baxley (2003-built) to compatriot buyers for a price of $21m each.
Allied Shipbroking, Lion Shipbrokers and Lorentzen & Stemoco all reported that German owner Hartmann sold two 2010 Hyundai-built 37,000 dwt handy tankers, Mount Everest and Mount Kibo, to Modi Mano-controlled M Sea Capital. The vessels went for $14.9m each.
The secondhand containership sale and purchase market has finally shown signs of life following weeks of silence.
According to Braemar ACM Shipbroking, last week saw further tranches of post-panamax container vessels coming to the market while activity on feeder ships continues to be low as there remains a significant spread between buyers and sellers ideas.
Intermodal and Seasure Shipbroking reported that Singapore-based Asiatic Lloyd Shipping, controlled by the Bunnemann family from Hamburg, purchased the 2007 CSBC-built 6,039 teu Irenes Warwick from Greek owner Tsakos Containers Navigation for $16m.
Lorentzen & Stemoco reported that Chinese leasing house CMB Financial Leasing acquired two 2011-built 9,954 teu post-panamax vessels Athos and Aristomenis from Greek owner Capital Maritime & Trading. The two Samsung-built vessels were sold for a price of $38.5m each.
