Owners are scrabbling to change their orders from dry to wet

By Harry Vafias

The year has started amazingly well for tankers, especially all crude sizes, and quite terribly for everything else especially bulkers! The slowing of the Chinese economy combined with the non existent Europe plus the evergrowing orderbook has led rates and the BDI to close to all time lows! Owners are scrabbling to change their orders from dry to wet but few yards are willing to accommodate them!

On the newbulding side costamare has ordered four firm 20,500 teu mega containers with 2 options at Samsung for long term charter to MOSK costing $155 mill apiece while cosco ordered four option two 28,000 dwt handies with 2x350t, 1x100 cranes at shanghai new yard  for $40 mill each! Evergreen went back to imabari for a total of eleven 18,000 teu containers all for charters with shoei kisen. Knutsen went to cosco for a single 158,000 dwt suezmax shuttle tanker plus two options with a 11 year TC attached, costing $100 mill each while Xiamen yard has taken an order from landmark capital for one option one 54,000 cbm LNG carrier! Angeliccousis has returned to his favorite yard Daewoo for two more VLCC’s costing $99 mill each while sincere has cancelled two capsizes at SWS and converted them to a single VLCC costing $95 mill. NYK and MOSK have ordered two 177,000 cbm LNG ships at Mitsubishi for long charter to mitsui.

Lets continue with the 2^nd hand dry market. The ‘YM rightness’ 77,000 built 04 china was sold for $18 mill with bb back while the ‘maritime taboneo’ 76,000 dwt built japan geared got $10,7 mill from Cyprus maritime. Shelton paid $9,7 mill for the ‘thalia’ 75,000 dwt built 2001 japan while the sisters ‘ captain V Livanos/maria V livanos’ both 57,000 dwt built 11 china got $38 mill enbloc with BB back. Seanergy paid $17,3 mill for the ‘nordtramp’ 171,000 dwt built 01 japan, the ‘bikan’ 52,000 dwt built 01 japan 5x30 got $10 mill while the ‘lizard point’ 28,000 dwt built 05 japan 4x30 got $8,5 mill.

The ‘shin sakaide’ 91,000 dwt built 00 japan fetched $10,5 mill, the ‘FD Jacques graupart’ 76,000 dwt built 07 japan got $19 mill, the ‘diamond ocean’ 31,000 dwt built japan 4x30 got $11,5 mill and the ‘venture bulker’ 30,000 dwt built 04 japan 4x30 got $8,5 mill. The three sisters ‘EGS crest / tide / wave’ all 36,000 dwt built 11 korea 4x35 got $16 mill each while the ‘crescent harbour’ 32,000 dwt built 07 japan 4x30 got $11 mill.

Lets move on with the wet sales. The ‘GC haikou’ 300,000 dwt built 00 japan got $31 mill from polembros while frontline paid $96 mill to acquire enbloc the ‘chapter genta / roxen star’ both 156,000 dwt built 11/09 respectively in china. Knot paid $300 mill enbloc to buy five suezmax shuttle tankers all built korea except one That was built in the Uk  in 07/99/99/05 and 96 respectivelly! The ‘FS philippine’ 20,000 dwt built 05 italy got $12,5mill while the ‘DS voyager’ 310,000 dwt built 03 got $42 mill. The ‘nord star’ 46,000 dwt built 09 epoxy non imo got $22,5 mill while the ‘nord obtainer’ 47,000 dwt built 08 epoxy non imo got $20 mill. Chinese paid $62 mill for the ‘yangtze friendship’ 310,000 dwt built 08 japan while kalimanopoulos paid $40 mill for the ‘mare aegeum’ 110,000 dwt built 08 japan. Scorpio sold the ‘STI heritage / harmony’ both 74,000 dwt built 08/07 japan epoxy for $63 mill enbloc while the ‘challenge premier’ 46,000 dwt built 05 epoxy got $16 mill with 3 years BB at $6,500 daily. Tsakos paid $17 mill for the ‘scarlet star’ 37,000 dwt built 05 korea epoxy with SS passed while Blystad paid $31 mill for the ‘al muminah’ 107,000 dwt built 05 japan.