Newbuilding ordering activity is gaining pace over the course of the past few days, as ship owners are looking to push forward with their fleet modernization and expansion plans. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “with the summer lull period having come to an end, interest for new contracts is starting to gain pace, with several new orders coming to light this past week. However, this increasing activity seems to have focused in its majority right now on the containership sector, where 7 new contracts emerged for a total of 44 new vessels, with most of these belonging to the smaller more versatile the feeder subcategory. On the dry bulk side, 7 new vessels were ordered, 3 of which were Handysizes, while another 3 were Kamsarmaxes and 1 was a Supramax. Meanwhile another 7 new vessels were added to the tanker orderbook, ordered by Far Eastern and US interests. A couple of new orders were also rumored in the offshore, passenger and LPG sectors, showing the overall growing momentum being seen in the push now being made by shipbuilders to entice further buying interest across the shipping industry as a whole. In regards to prices, we have not yet seen any significant changes during the last few weeks, with the slow down in activity over the past few weeks having played their part”.
In a separate newbuilding report, Clarkson Platou Hellas commented on “a number of orders this week in the dry market. Mitsui announced an order for three firm 87,000dwt post-panamax ‘neo 87BC’ bulk carriers for a yet to be confirmed owner. Delivery is due from end 2020. Xingang are understood to have finalised contracts for two 82,000dwt Kamsarmax with CSIC Leading with delivery due in the later part of 2020. DACKS are also understood to have contracted a single 61k Ultramax with Akmar Shipping & Trading with delivery also in 2020. One tanker order, with Samsung confirming a contract from AET for a single 152k Shuttle tanker – including DP2 – with delivery at the end of 2020. In the container market, further feeders have been ordered, with several other feeder deals backed by Evergreen long term charter also due to be inked in the coming weeks. Arkas Line have replaced the ships they ordered at the failed Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding at Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard, by signing during the SMM exhibition this week for two plus two 3,100 TEU Vessels for delivery in 1H 2020. Nordic Hamburg have also further extended their series at the same Yard for a further pair of dual fuel 1,400 TEU ships for charter to Containerships of Finland, taking the series to six. These latest ships will deliver in the first half of 2020. Finally the Chinese domestic operator Wuhan Newport Datong have ordered a pair of 500 TEU feeders at CSC Jiangdong Shipyard for delivery within 2020”, Clarkson Platou Hellas concluded.
Meanwhile, in the S&P market, Allied said that “on the dry side, things were relative subdued during the past week, inline somehow with the downward correction noted in the freight market as of late. On the other hand, while most segments witnessed a rather sluggish level of activity, S&P transactions for Handysize vessels showed some positive momentum, with interest varying across different age levels. Notwithstanding this, we may well expect an bullish attitude to take shape now, though given the price levels being noted it will be a while before any further price increases can be noted.
On the wet side, overall activity seems to be holding at relatively fair levels for the time being, given the overall trend noted in the year so far. Moreover, as we have witnessed before, most market participants continue to hold a rather “bargain hunting” attitude, something that should continue to feed a fair volatility with periodical ups and downs in terms of number of vessels changing hand”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
