News

After years of minimal ordering, tanker newbuilding contracting seems to be back on the agenda for many ship owners. At least this has been the case over the course of the past few months. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “newbuilding orders continue at a modest pace, and tanker contracting remains strong and accounts for roughly a quarter of orders to date this year. The slow growth of the tanker fleet is particularly clear in the case of the VLCCs, with headlines discussing ‘the only delivery of 2024’, but holds in general and along with good earnings appears but be encouraging investment in the sector; over 20 VLCCs (including options) have been reported as contracted to date this year.

At the other end of the scale, MR contracting has got off to a very strong start, with up to 12 vessels recently contracted at Chengxi, bringing the total for the sector almost to 30 to date this year. On the dry side, buying appetite has been more restrained in comparison, though it has been by no means weak. Just a few weeks after K-Line shipping ordered 3 post-Panamax coal carriers, Hayfin Capital have been linked to an order for 2 more postPanamax vessels which are backed by long-term charters and are destined for the coal trade too. The only other bulker order reported in the past week was for 2 Ultramaxes at Jiangsu Haitong, as the size segment leads dry bulk contracting in 2024”.

In a similar weekly note, shipbroker Banchero Costa added that “German owner Gefo signed 10x duplex fully stainless steel 3.880 dwt chemical tankers at Nantong Xiangyu. Deliveries are expected between 2026 and 2028. Sweden’s Furetank placed order for 2x 18k product tankers to be built by China Merchants Jinling for delivery end of 2026 and first half of 2027. All the ships will trade in the Swedish Gothia Alliance pool operated by Furetank. The latest vessels will run on dual fuel LNG and biogas in addition to gasoil abd to be ice class 1A Stolt Tankers together with NYK Line singed order for 6x 38,000 chemical tankers (30 tanks, stainless stess) at Nantong Xiangyu with delivery 2026- 2029”.

Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied added that “on the dry bulk side, the bullish momentum of late geared up even further, while buying appetite unabated and overall activity considerably elevated during the past couple of weeks. As a result, we have noticed a firm presence across the different size segments, with the largest sector “stealing the show” at this point. As the current euphoric phase in the market progresses, and the ample interest across the various age groups and sizes remains solid, we can expect things remain bullish in the near term. On the tanker side, the snp market took another step forward, with an increased number of transactions being reported. For the time being though, we witness activity being skewed heavily towards clean vessels (mainly MR), in line though, with the recent shifting dynamics from the side of earnings”.

Banchero Costa added that it was “an active week in the dry segment, starting from the sale of 4 x 2020/2021 Chinese built NewCastlemaxes, at $65 mln each to undisclosed buyers. In addition, Foremost was reported selling 2 x NewCastlemax at $73 mln, the vessels are the QING MAY and the LAN MAY, 206,000 dwt SWS built respectively in 2012 and 2011. The New York-based group also offloaded 2 of its 3 oldest Capesize: the YUE MAY and the GUO MAY, both 176,000 dwt 2011 SWS, at $26.5 mln and $26.3 mln respectively. In the Kamsarmax segment, New Yorklisted Navios Maritime sold the NAVIOS HARMONY, 82,000 dwt 2006 Tsuneishi, for $12.2 mln. Another Japan-built vessel, the SCARLET ROBIN 82,000 dwt 2016 Oshima, has been sold for $28.6 mln to Greek buyers. The Panamax segment saw several units sold during the week, including the MAGIC HORIZON 76,000 dwt 2010 Shin Kasado, reported sold for $15.8 mln to Greek buyers. In October 2023, a one year older Shin Kasado vessel, the LADY MARITE 76,000 dwt 2009, was sold for $15.75 mln.

As for Supramaxes, the SOLAR AFRICA 58,000 dwt 2011 Tsuneishi Cebu was sold to Greek buyers for a price in the high $17s mln range. By comparison, in March 2023, the one-year younger AMIS ORCHID 58,000 dwt Tsuneishi Cebu, was sold in excess of $19 mln. An interesting week also occurred in the tanker market, with the Transportation Recovery Fund selling a modern VLCC, the TRF HORTEN 297,000 dwt 2018 HHIC Phil (scrubber fitted) for $102 mln. Buyers were reported to be Chinese. Just a few weeks after selling out its five oldest VLCCs, Frontline moved to its oldest Suezmax: the company was reported to have sold the FRONT ODIN 156,000 dwt 2010 Jangsu (scrubber fitted) to NGM for $45.5 mln. Multiple MRs were sold during the week, among them the BAHRI TULIP 49,000 dwt 2006 Daewoo sold to undisclosed buyers for $18.4 mln. This transaction would therefore see Bahri divest itself of its final MR vessel, leaving its fleet predominantly consisting of VLCCs and chemical tankers”, Banchero Costa concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide