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Weekly Broker: Time to double down?

Place your bets! Which sector will appreciate the most in the coming 12 months? As reported on this site earlier this week, VesselsValue has picked classic panamax boxships to pick up in price the most this year. Opinion seems divided however, but optimism abounds that there’s money to be made in the final year of a tricky decade for shipping.

The year 2019 has started with plenty of enthusiasm for both the dry bulk and tanker shipping markets. Optimism has also been reflected in the sale and purchase market with prices in most segments starting to pick up in the first 10 days of the year.

Prices for secondhand tankers have seen a strong uptrend in the past month in all sizes and age groups. According to the indicative market values by Allied Shipbroking, since the end of November, the average price for 10-year-old and 15-year-old VLCCs is up by 9.4% and 10.3% respectively, average price for 10-year-old and 15-year-old 45,000 dwt MR tankers have increased by 12.9% and 13.5% respectively, while the average price for 10-year-old suezmaxes has gained 15.6% from $27.25m to $31.5m.

“On the tanker side, things remained relatively sluggish at the very start of the new year, underlying that the holiday mood hasn’t yet faded away for the wet market. With the freight market witnessing a drop the past couple of days, it seems that snp activity will continue at a slower pace for the time being. Notwithstanding this, given the overall better sentiment as of late, we can expect many interesting deals to take place in the not so distant future,” Allied Shipbroking said in its latest weekly report.

Allied Shipbroking listed the sale of the 2012 Chinese-built 18,000 dwt product tanker Chemical Aquarius. Greek owner Panos Laskaridias’ Lavinia has acquired the vessel from Chinese owner Maple Leaf Shipping for a price of $11.5m.

Andreas J. Zachariassen reported that the 2010 Japanese-built 48,000 dwt MR2 tanker Nord Inspiration was sold by Japanese owner Nippon Oil Tankers to compatriot company Fuyo Kaiun for $16.75m. The transaction includes a time charter back to the previous operator, Norient Product Pool.

Average secondhand prices in most bulker segments have kept at similar levels or seen a slight increase for the past month apart from the capesize segment.

The average price for five-year-old 180,000 dwt capesize bulker has dropped 5.6% from $36m to $34m since the end of November while the average price for a five-year-old 82,000 dwt panamax has increased by 2.2% during the same period and most notably, average prices for five-year-old 37,000 dwt handysize bulker have increased by 6.5% from $15.5m to $16.5m during the period.

“On the dry bulk side, a fair volume of transactions took place the past couple of days, despite the fact that we are just few days after new year festivities, a point typically characterized by subdued activity in the snp market. At this point, focus is solely on the supramax and panamax/kamsarmax segments and on modern tonnage. With optimism back once more, we may well expect a further boost in activity during the upcoming weeks,” Allied Shipbroking said in its first 2019 weekly report.

Allied Shipbroking and Seasure Shipbroking all reported a deal in which German owner Oldendorff Carriers snapped up a resale 82,000 dwt newbuild kamsarmax, Atlantica Sun, from Atlantica Shipping for a price of $26.5m. The vessel, which has been renamed Kai Oldenforff, is currently under construction at China’s Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, and delivery is scheduled next month. In the meantime, several shipbroking houses reported that Oldendorff has sold off two 1991 vintage South Korean-built 77,000 dwt panamax bulkers called Carol and Berni to undisclosed buyers for $6.75m each.

Intermodal identified Greek owner White Sea Navigation as the buyer behind the sale of the 2011 Japanese-built supramax Topaz Halo. The 56,200 dwt vessel was sold by Japanese owner Nikko Kisen for a price of $15.4m.

Multiple shipbroking houses including Allied Shipbroking, Advanced Shipping & Trading, Banchero Costa and Lorentzen & Stemoco all reported the en bloc sale of two supramax bulkers, the 2010-built 57,000 dwt North Quay and the 2011-built Salford Quay. The two vessels have been sold by German owner Quayside Maritime Partners to Chinese interests for $19m in total. Quayside is a joint venture between E.R. Capital Holding and the Schulte Group.

In a recent court-led auction, Chinese owner Tangshan Dongfang Baode Trading has acquired the 2009-built 23,000 dwt handysize bulker Di Xiang for a price in the region of $5.3m. The vessel’s previous owner, Shantou Diyuan Shipping, suspended operations in 2017 due to a financial crisis with all of its vessels seized by a local court.

The containership sale and purchase market remained flat in the first week of the new year. Andreas J. Zachariassen reported the sale of two 2008-built 1,849 teu feeder boxships, Ibrahim Dede and Cafer Dede. Turkish owners Kalkavan sold the two ships for $9m each and Marinakis’ Capital Maritime & Trading is said to be the buyer of the pair.

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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