The level of activity in the newbuilding market for bulkers has picked up of late. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking noted that it was “an interesting week for the newbuilding market, following through from the bullish face of late, with plenty of new orders coming into light. In the dry bulk sector, after a week of complete absence of activity, we have seen a very firm flow of new ordering emerge, inline somehow with the positive sentiment in terms of earnings, though not necessarily focused on the size segments were the most promising surge in earnings has taken place. Given that the freight market from the early part of the previous month has once again started to return back on a positive trajectory, we may well continue to see a further volume of new projects take shape during the course of this year. On the other hand, while things on the Tanker side remain bearish in terms of earnings, newbuilding activity still holds at relatively good levels for the time being. This can be also seen as a mere reflection of the fact that many market participants feel that these price levels will not be hold this low for much longer.

Clarkson Platou Hellas commented on its latest weekly shipbuilding report that it was “a quiet week in the Newbuilding market with only a couple of orders to report. In Tankers, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have won an order for one firm plus one optional 50,000 DWT MR Tankers from Clients of Niovis Shipping. The firm unit is set for delivery in 2H 2019 from HMD’s Ulsan facility. In the Dry market, Jinling Shipyard has signed a contract for two firm 82,000 DWT Kamsarmax Bulk Carriers with AVIC International Leasing. The vessels will go on bareboat charter to SDTR Marine when delivered in 2H 2019”.

Meanwhile, in the S&P Market this week, Allied said that “on the dry bulk side, things have suddenly quieted down this past week with just a handful of secondhand sales being reported. Despite this, given the recent upward trend noted in the freight market, it may well be a case of a temporary pause as both sellers take an opportunity to regroup to the new realities at hand and find the new price levels that make sense. This will surely be more so the case for the former, with most sellers likely to attempt to capitalize on this bullish sentiment and further drive prices over the next couple of months. On the tanker side, the level of activity scaled back this past week, dropping back down to the typical levels we have become accustomed to. Despite the bearish mood in the freight market, there still seems to be a fair amount of buying interest around. However, with most of this interest still focused on the bargain side of things, the market is still not there to really accommodate”.

In a separate note, Vessels Value said that on the tanker segment, “values have remained stable throughout the past week. VLCC Takamine (306,200 DWT, Jun 2004, Mitsubishi HI) sold for USD 22.3 mil, VV value USD 23.43 mil. MR1 Cielo di Milano (40,100 DWT, Sep 2003, SLS) sold for USD 8 mil, VV value USDD 8.82 mil. SS Due Sep 2018. In the dry bulk segment, VV said that “values have also remained stable with a slight firming in older Handy tonnage. Panamax Trade Quest (82,000 DWT, Jun 2016, Jiangsu New Yangzijiang) was bought by Marmaras for USD 24.5 mil, VV value USD 24.14 mil. In older tonnage the Boreal (74,200 DWT, Mar 2002, Namura) sold for USD 10 mil, VV value USD 9.71 mil. Supramax Zola (55,800 DWT, Jun 2012, IHI) sold for USD 17.4 mil, VV value USD 17.72 mil. Suprastar (57,000 DWT, Jan 2011, Qingshan shipyard) sold for USD 11.75 mil, VV value USD 11.87 mil. In older tonnage Aliki P (50,300 DWT, Apr 2001, Kawasaki) sold for USD 8.1 mil, VV value USD 8.21 mil. Handy Bulker Conqueror (32,900 DWT, Apr 2010, Zhejiang Zhenxing) sold for USD 8.2 mil, VV value USD 8.2 million”, VV concluded.

Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide