S & P 

An active week with few sales to be reported in both the Dry and Wet S+P sectors.

Two sale for the Panamaxes; the German-owned M/V PAIUTE (70,293 dwt 1995 blt Sanoyas) has been sold on subjects for US$ 10.5m to undisclosed buyers while the craned Panamax, NYK’s M/V SAGARKIRAN (73,350 dwt 1995 blt Hyundai) reported sold at US$ 9.8m to Indian buyers.

Market rumours suggest that one of the supramax bulkers currently in the market, namely M/V LIBRE (52,510 dwt 2001 blt Kanasashi) has been committed at US$ 14.75m to Bangladeshi buyers.

In the handies, the M/V SANTA PACIFICA (28,520 dwt 2000 blt Imabari) reported sold to Turkish buyers for around US$ 10.75m while the 6 year older sister vessel the M/V OCEAN ID (28,429 dwt 1994 blt Imabari) sold at US$ 7.85m with drydocking freshly passed in February. The older M/V SIAM JADE (27,652 dwt 1986 blt Mitsubishi) is gone to Chinese interests for US$ 3.1m.

Finally, the forest products carrier M/V FOREST CREATOR (49,865 dwt 1996 blt Imabari) has been sold for US$ 7.3m to Chinese interests.

A few sales to report in the Tanker S+P market.

The Suezmax M/T NAVIGA (150,841 dwt 1998 blt NKK) has been committed on subjects to Indonesian buyers at US$ 16m.

Greek buyers have purchased the M/T MILLENNIUM EXPLORER (102,741 dwt 1999 blt Namura) for a low US$ 10.9m (zinc coating, uncoiled and without a centerline bulkhead). On another sale Avin Oil have purchased Tankerska Plovidba’s M/T PETAR ZRINSKI (101,605 dwt 1994 blt Brodosplit) at US$ 8.75m.

In a sale conducted by the builder, MR product carrier M/T TORM ANABEL (52,300 dwt 2011 blt Guangzhou) was sold to a Chinese leasing company for US$ 32m against a 7 year bareboat to Parakou Shipping, Hong Kong at a rate around US$ 9,000 per day. We also understand that the M/T TORM LANA (52,941 dwt 2009 blt Guangzhou) has been sold by Torm to Greek buyers at a price in the region of US$ 27.5m.

NEWBUILDING  

As week ten of 2012 draws to a close, the Newbuilding market remains relatively subdued. Taking a direct comparison and looking at the number of contracts placed in the first 2 months of 2011 against the same period for 2012 ¨C we can note that 2012 has only produced around 36% of volume, so a total of 112 orders against 310 for the same period in 2011.

However it is not necessarily total doom and gloom for shipyards and there is still time for volume to pick up and 2012 to start to show signs of growth. With further reports of new business being concluded again this week, there is a continual level of activity in the market ¨C albeit at lesser volume to 2011 so far.

The challenge for Shipyards will come from the continued tightening of the debt markets and an uncertain macro economic environment making high capital investment decisions increasingly challenging. 2011 had provided for significant volumes of high value LNG and Offshore ordering, which was instrumental in boosting turnover considerably for shipyards. As to whether 2012 will produce the same opportunities remains to be seen and with concerns over the extent to which this demand has now been saturated, coupled with a challenging financial climate, it will certainly be an arduous proposition to replicate.

The Japanese yards also continue to remain under pressure against a weakened demand story for Dry. However with a focus on efficient designs and the Yen depreciating by over 6% against the Dollar over the past month - there is the potential for some relief here and investment from the market against promising design work hold potential - nevertheless the bid offer spread remains wide and there is some way to go before levels are enticing enough to trigger any real spike in interest.

Having said that - with a number of enquiries still under discussion and the market continuing to tick over, 2Q 2012 will be a key moment in defining how the landscape of the remainder of the year will look from a Newbuilding perspective…

In terms of reported business; In Dry, China Navigation are reported to be close to concluding an order at Chengxi Shipyard for 4 firm 39,000dwt Handysize bulk carriers. These are provisionally scheduled to deliver from end 2013 onwards and we understand includes options for up to 6 additional vessels and is at a price of circa USD 23 Mill per vessel.

In Tankers, STX are reported to have won an order from clients of European Navigation for 1 x 155,000dwt Shuttle Tanker, scheduled for delivery in 2015, which we understand is a declared option from their previous order at the yard. Meanwhile we understand that clients of Densa Shipping have placed an order at HHI for a pair of 106K Aframax Tankers with both of these vessels due to deliver in 2H 2013.

In Gas, Solvang are understood to have declared their optional VLGC of 84,000cbm, which will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries and is a follow on to their initial order placed in June last year. We understand this vessel is provisionally scheduled to deliver at the end of 2013. Pricing has not been disclosed.

Finally, Flensburher are reported to have won an order from Rolldock for a pair of Heavy lift vessels. These are provisionally scheduled to deliver in 1H 2014 and are understood to be multi function LoLo/Ro-Ro/Flo-Flo vessels.