The secondhand bulker sale and purchase market has continued to see prices firm despite a correction seen on the cape charter markets this week.
According to Alibra’s latest report, the capesize market has entered into a period of correction following the bullish sentiment of the past few weeks and rates moved slightly lower. In the kamsarmax/panamax sector, the Pacific Basin has remained firm despite a softening in the capesize and FFA rates. Additionally, rates remained steady for the smaller sizes.
Allied Shipbroking’s indicative dry bulk values show average prices for 15-year-old 150,000 dwt capesize bulkers and 10-year-old 76,000 dwt panamax bulkers have increased by 4.2% and 3.8% respectively in the past month.
“On the dry bulk side, interest remained relatively robust this past week, with the positive sentiment noted as of late from the boosted freight market playing a key role. Almost all of the deals being reported this past week included panamax and supramax units, with the majority of them being considered as vintage. Given that secondhand prices have posted a slight drop recently, it is likely buyers’ appetite will continue to hold for a little while longer,” Allied Shipbroking said.
More than six shipbroking houses reported the sale of the 2004-built 76,000 dwt panamax bulker Loreto. The Sasebo-built vessel was sold by Chilean owner Ultranav to Greek buyers for $8m.
Multiple shipbroking houses listed the sale of the 2011-built 51,000 dwt supramax Nikkei Verde. Japanese owner Tamai Steamship sold the Oshima-built vessel to Chinese interests for $10.5m.
Allied Shipbroking, Intermodal and Lorentzen & Stemoco all listed a deal in which Singapore’s Star Pacific Line sold its 2000-built 46,600 dwt handy bulker J Ocean to Chinese buyers. The Mitsui-built vessel has fetched a price of $3.8m.
“On the tankers side, it was also an interesting week with a moderate number of transactions taking place. Interest here was focused on the oil products’ segments with four MRs and one small product/ chemical tanker being sold. The long-term positive outlook of the market and the slightly decreased prices has helped to counter the decrease in activity that was starting to take shape due to the recent softening noted in the freight market,” Allied Shipbroking said.
Seasure Shipbroking, Allied Shiprboking, Intermodal and Anchor Shipbroking all listed the sale of the 1997-built 44,970 dwt MR tanker Agility. The South Korean-built vessel is believed to have been sold by Indian owner Seven Islands Shipping to Chinese interests for a price of $5m.
Seasure Shipbroking reported that German Tanker Shipping offloaded its 2001-built 32,200 dwt MR tanker Seamullet for $6.55m to UAE-based buyers. Ship registration information shows the vessel is now owned by Al Rafedain Marine Services and has been renamed Seamull.
In the secondhand containership sale and purchase market, according to Braemar ACM Shipbroking, activity continues to tick over but the primary source of tonnage remains German banks and Japanese owners, who are willing to take today’s levels.
“With the charter market showing signs of firming on panamax and above we expect that a number of sales candidates will see little downside in fixing into 2021 and re-evaluating the market next year,” Braemar said.
Braemar reported that Chinese feeder boxship operator SITC has committed on subjects the first two of four bank-driven Daesun sister ships – 2007-built 1,043 teu Marcarrier and Marcloud at levels thought to be in the low $5m each.
Alphaliner reported that Greek owner Costamare Shipping has been linked to the purchase of two sister containerships, the 2005-built 6,350 teu MOL Partner and MOL Paradise for around $9.5m each.
