The rebound of the dry bulk market over the course of the past few months, has triggered a flurry of investment in second hand tonnage. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal noted that “we are going through one of the rare instances where we see optimism building in the dry bulk industry and, as the momentum is still going, the belief that we will witness better rates in the industry. Within a short period of two to three months, this momentum of healthy rates has intrigued many ship-owners to have a look at the possibility in purchasing a vessel. The uncertainty and mistrust of the market has not yet disappeared but it has shrunk compared to the previous months”.

According to Intermodal’s SnP broker, Mr. Giannis Andritsopoulos, “in the Capesize sector, we saw during the spring the total collapse of the market, where owners who wanted to sell were flirting with the idea of scrapping. Suddenly, within a few weeks the market reversed to healthy rates, with vessels being fixed in the spot market at around $37,000/day and values being around 20% up from the previous months. Thus, buying interest was focused on vessels that are five and ten years old. An example is the “NORD STEEL” (180,230dwt-blt ‘07, Japan), where more than five buyers inspected. In addition, after a few months, the vessels that were actually for sale could be counted on one hand for ages five up to fifteen years old”.

“In the Panamax sector, with the support from the chartering and from the continuous increase of the BDI, we saw increasing interest from many ship-owners for vessels that are around fifteen years old, that are considered by many as money makers. Moreover, on Panamaxes the SnP transaction of the “CLIPPER VICTORY” (77,119dwt-blt ‘15, Japan) is noteworthy, which was sold to a Greek owner, Eastern Mediterranean, for a price in the region of $21.0m. Usually, on these SnP transactions, it is typical to have interest for vessels with a deadweight in excess of 80,000 tonnes, however the price of the asset makes it a tempting deal”, Andritsopoulos added.

Meanwhile, “in the Supramax sector after the sale of the “KESTREL I” (50,351dwt-blt ‘04, Japan), which was sold Taiwanese buyers for a price in the region of $7.3m, many buyers, including Greeks, have recently focused on purchasing vessels in excess of 50,000dwt up to 54,000dwt, built around 2000. The reason is that the value of these vessels has decreased and they are not willing to pay the premium for vessels over 56,000dwt. Lastly, In Supras that are around ten years old, there are plenty of available candidates for sale but buying interest is limited, as many believe that with these prices you cannot cover the investment”, said Intermodal’s broker.

He concluded that “Handies have not followed the upward trend of the freight market in recent months. Regarding values of the 28,000dwt vessels, they are still at low levels and it looks like they cannot tempt or attract Handy owners. The same can be identified with regards to the Chinese Handies from 32,000dwt up to 37,000dwt. In the Japanese Handies with capacities exceeding 32,000dwt, the market is more encouraging as after the sale of the “IKAN JERUNG” (31,760dwt-blt ‘09, Japan) we have witnessed a reluctant interest for vessels with three generators and following that, for vessels with two generators with the example of the “C. S. STAR” (33,000dwt-blt ‘11, Japan), which was sold to Greek buyers with a total of four inspecting the vessel”.