S & P 

An interesting week for dry S+P market especially in the Cape and Supramax sectors.

Chinese buyers (Winning Group) have acquired two Capes; the modern M/V REGENA N (180,277 dwt 2006 blt Imabari) at region US$ 33.9m and the vintage M/V CAPE AMERICA (149,515 dwt 1991 blt CSBC) at US$ 8.5m. On another sale, undisclosed Greek buyers acquired the M/V IRON YANDI (169,963 dwt 1996 blt Daewoo) at US$ 13.5m.

The vintage / crane-fitted Panamax M/V CHIOS JOY (68,762 dwt 1989 blt Hyundai) reported sold to Chinese buyers at US$ 6.5m with drydocking due in July.

The modern Supramax M/V DALIAN STAR (56,010 dwt 2007 blt Mitsui) reported sold to Greek buyers at region of US$ 23.5m. The vessel was inspected by a number of Buyers earlier this month in China whilst she was passing her drydocking survey.

In addition, we can report that, further to negotiations last week, the grab fitted M/V FURNESS AUSTRALIA (52,489 dwt 2001 blt Tsuneishi Zosen) has been sold for a price in the region of US$15.4m to Indonesian buyers.

Not much to report in the tanker S+P market;

the Aframax M/T TAIYOH III (95,666 dwt 1997 blt Imabari) has been sold for US$ 9m to Nathalin with due ss/dd in June. Price reflects a small percentage over her scrap value. On smaller sizes, the coated M/T GLOBAL THEMIS (11,394 dwt 1999 blt Higaki) reported sold to undisclosed buyers for US$ 6.75m.

Moreover, three stainless steel chemical tankers were sold last week; M/T PIONEER SPIRIT (8,735 dwt 1997 blt Usuki) at US$ 6m,  M/T SPRING MISTRAL (3,818 dwt 2009 blt Onishigumi) at US$ 9.5m to Korean buyers and M/T GEMINI L. (7.506 dwt 1996 blt Shin Kurushima) at US$ 4.5m.

NEWBUILDING  

The Newbuilding market has seen yet further reports of new business being concluded across a range of sectors this week, including the Product Tanker, Gas and PCC markets amongst others. These first of these sectors in particular has already seen a good level of ordering activity and this latest business certainly helps maintain the momentum that has been generated so far this year.

2012 has so far been a comparatively quieter year in the Newbuilding market and this latest ordering will certainly be welcomed against a challenging macro economic & trading environment. The overall orderbook now stands at its lowest level since 2005 having been in decline over the past 4 years and a major part of this can be attributed to the greatly reduced levels of ordering in the conventional sectors such as the Dry Bulk and Crude Tanker markets.

We continue to see the yards and design houses strive to make every improvement to the efficiency of their designs in an effort to combat this and these developments looks increasingly important, with oil prices continuing to hover around the US$ 120 per barrel mark (Brent) and firm forward anticipation on pricing.

The overall cost of bunkers looks likely to continue to rise in the near future, especially when factoring in the need to burn various fuels within the different ECA Zones and it will certainly be an interesting story to follow to see how owners react to this and the impact the coming two tier market (that is developing against this evolution in designs) will have on asset values across the board.

In terms of reported business; In Wet, STX are reported to have had a busy week winning orders from 2 separate owners for MR product tankers. Firstly, they are reported to have signed 2+2 x 50K Units with Alterna Capital Partners for delivery from 2Q 2013 from Jinhae in Korea. Secondly they are understood to have signed with clients of Tanker Pacific for a series of 4+4 x 50K Product carriers to be built in their STX Dalian facility, China with deliveries starting from 2014. Pricing for these units is understood to lie at just a shade under USD 30 Mill per vessel.

In Gas, Navigator Gas have announced they have completed an order with Jiangnan shipyard in China for up to 6 x 21,000cbm Semi Refrigerated, ethylene capable LPG carriers (understand 2+2+2 units). These vessels are believed to have been signed at a price in the region of USD 49 Mill and will begin delivering from Apr 2014 and then at 2 month intervals thereafter.

In other Sectors, clients of Zodiac Marine are understood to have placed an order with Imabari for 2+2 x 6,500 CEU PCCs with deliveries provisionally scheduled to begin from 2014 onwards. Pricing has not been disclosed.