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Weekly Broker: On the rebound

The two dominant nationalities in the world of S&P have clearly decided bargains are there to be had and Splash has recorded above average sales in all three main shipping segments this week. Chinese and Greek owners have led the charge, picking up cheap tonnage in anticipation of a strong rebound in volumes as trade in and out of coronavirus-hit China looks to have stabilised in recent days.

In dry bulk, while capes continue to struggle other ship types have enjoyed better earnings of late.

According to Alibra’s latest report, macroeconomic pressures continued to weigh heavily on the capesize sector, but the the kamsarmax and panamax sectors are seeing more healthy times while the underlying sentiment for the smaller sizes has overall been positive again this week but rates have remained flat.

“On the dry bulk side, an interesting week emerged in terms of volume taking place. This may well have caught many interested parties by surprise, given the uninspiring environment in the SnP market during the past few weeks or so. Notwithstanding this, it should be mentioned, that we witnessed a significant boost, nourished mostly from the medium to bigger size segments. For the time being, the situation is rather blurred, whether this recent trend is a reflection of an amassed number of deals that have been in the works for some time or that the market has adapted to the new circumstances,” Allied Shipbroking said in its latest report.

Many shipbrokers listed a deal in which Singapore’s STC Shipping sold its 2008-built 180,000 dwt capesize bulker Mineral Hokkaido while Seasure Shipbroking identified the buyer as Greek owner Theodore Veniamis’ Golden Union. The vessel fetched a price of $16.6m.

More than eight shipbroking houses reported the sale of the 2009-built 81,400 dwt kamsarmax bulker Olympic Galaxy. Greek owner Olympic Shipping sold the Japanese-built vessel to compatriot owner Pavimar for $13.25m.

Lorentzen & Stemoco, Advanced Shipping & Trading and Seasure Shipbroking reported a transaction in which Scorpio Bulkers sold its 2015 Chinese-built 81,000 dwt kamsarmax bulker SBI Bolero to Greek buyers for $18m.

“On the tankers side, we witnessed a significant upward pressure in terms of activity. This, also, may be considered as a surprising fact, given that the overall trend from the side of earnings is rather negative. With both Aframax and MR segments still holding the lead, we are likely to continue to see the focus remain on these segments over the next couple of weeks,” Allied Shipbroking said.

Allied Shipbroking, Seasure Shipbroking and Advanced Shipping & Trading all reported that Japanese owner JX Ocean sold its 2005-built 106,700 dwt aframax tanker Negishi Maru to Indonesian owner PT Arcadia. The Japanese-built vessel has fetched a price of $15.5m.

Multiple shipbroking houses all reported an en bloc deal in which US owner Chembulk Tankers sold three of its MR tankers – 2007-built Chembulk Minneapolis, 2008-built Chembulk Lindy Alice and 2005-built Chembulk Westport – to Singapore’s MT Maritime. The three Japanese-built vessels went for $45m.

More than eight shipbroking houses listed the sale of the 2011-Japanese-built 50,000 dwt MR tanker Eagle Melbourne. Japanese owner Meiji Shipping sold the vessel to Greek buyers, thought to be Falcon Navigation, for $18.4m.

In the secondhand containership S&P market, according to Braemar ACM Shipbroking, this week continued to see a fair level of activities despite a jittery stock market as the world reacted to the spread of coronavirus.

Braemar reported the sale of the 2009-built 4,860 teu Ontario II. German owner NSB sold the vessel to Transworld for $10.65m.

Lorentzen & Stemoco reported that Brazilian company Log-In Logistica acquired the 2011-built 2,758 teu feeder boxship New Hampshire Trader from Lomar Shipping for $12m.

Additionally, Braemar reported that there are a number of post-panamax container projects under discussion with another four-ship bloc close to being finalised.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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