ContainersDry CargoOperationsTankers

Weekly Broker: Smaller tonnage leads the pack

Bulker sales led the charge once again this week with supramaxes especially popular in the S&P markets. There was also a healthy pick up in interest for container assets, while tanker deals were thin on the ground, emblematic of the stale earnings environment the sector finds itself in.

“On the dry bulk side, activity continues to be ample while we are still seeing a bigger focus still present on the smaller size segments again this week. To some extent this has started to be reflected to some degree in the price levels being noted, though noting considerable thus far. If buying interest and activity continue to hold at their going rate, it will likely not take long before we start to see another price rally take shape, though given the standing conditions in the freight market, this may well end up being delayed until early March,” Allied Shipbroking said in its latest report.

Both Seasure Shipbroking and Advanced Shipping & Trading have listed a deal in which the 2008-built supramax Poseidon SW was sold to Greek owner Sea World Management by Taiwanese owner Shih Wei Navigation. The 55,700 dwt vessel has fetched a price of $12.5m.

Additionally, Allied Shipbroking and Intermodal have identified Japanese owner Kasuge Kaiun as the buyer of a resale ultramax bulker at domestic yard Saiki Heavy Industries. The Japanese owner paid $25.5m for the 60,297 dwt newbuilding, which is set for delivery in June, 2018. The little known outfit has waived inspection in its eagerness to get the ship.  The vessel was originally ordered by Japanese company Mitsui Soko.

“On the tanker side, it feels as though things quietened down further this past week in terms of reported deals, with relatively few coming to surface. At the same time it looks as though we may see things start to improve slowly in this sector, as trade fundamentals start to paint a slightly better overall picture. We have yet to see any strong indication of this take shape in the freight market, though potential buyers may well be already taking notice,” Allied Shipbroking noted.

Several shipbrokers including Advanced Shipping & Trading, Allied Shipbrokers and Seasure Shipbroking all reported a deal in which Filipino owner Chelsea Shipping Corporation acquired 51,600 dwt MR2 tanker Aristotelis from Jerry Kalogiratos-led Capital Product Partners. The 2013-built vessel fetched a price of $29.6m.

In addition, Seasure Shipbroking and Intermodal both have details of a deal in which Singapore’s Winson Oil paid $8.8m for 13,300 dwt small tanker Team Oslo from Team Tankers International. The ship will be the second small chemical tanker in Winson’s fleet. The Taiwanese owner, who does most of its business out of Singapore, is listed with six ships in its fleet.

The transaction volume in the secondhand containership S&P market in the past week has started to pick up comparing with the previous week, and like dry bulk activity has  mainly focused on smaller tonnage.

One deal widely reported by shipbrokers is Portuguese owner Portline buying a 2009-built feedermax Windhoek from Japanese owner Okouchi Kaiun for $10.5m. Portline had chartered the vessel under a one-year contract in 2017.

Lastly, Clarkson listed UK owner Borealis Maritime as the buyer of two feeder boxships, the 2006-built Chiloe Island and the 2005-built Louds Island. The company bought the two vessels in an en bloc deal from US company Soundview Maritime for an undisclosed price.

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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