With charter rates cooling for dry bulk and tankers remaining in the doldrums this past week has seen owners step back from making many ship purchases. A noticeable air of caution has hit the S&P scene at the start of the second quarter. Traditionally the Easter break does bring a bit of a pause to proceedings. This lull was greater this time around thanks in no small part to the growing threat of a trade war kicking off between the US and China.
“On the dry bulk side, activity held soft again this week, though this is mostly attributed to the slack being noted amongst both buyers and sellers during the Christian Easter Holiday period. Having said that, it looks as though we may well see a turn in the market during the second half of the month, with buying interest having seemingly firmed once more and looking to act before we enter the summer period,” Allied Shipbroking said in its latest weekly report.
Reflecting the low transaction volume in the secondhand bulker market , activity levels in the chartering of capesize, panamax and supramax markets has all been weak in the past week with the capesize market drop substantially while panamax rates are going in a clear negative direction after a couple of weeks of firm freight rates.
Allied Shipbroking reported the sale of the 2010-built panamax bulker Annabell. Greek owner Kassian Maritime is said to have bought the 75,200 dwt vessel for a price of $14.3m.
In the supramax sector, Advanced Shipping & Trading reported that the 2010-built Hammonia Malta was sold by German owner Hammonia Reederei to an undisclosed buyer for $11.3m.
On the tanker side, not much has changed this week, with overall activity levels still limited.
Finally, on the container front, Braemar ACM reports there are still limited numbers of container vessels workable for sale and plenty of buyers waiting to pounce.
Braemar ACM noted in its most recent weekly report that there are strong rumours circulating that two geared Wenchong 1,700 teu vessels – the Winchester Strait and William Strait – have been tied up to an undisclosed operator at close to $14m per vessel.
