SECONDHAND MARKET
Despite the negative freight market trends, the secondhand ship purchasing activity is still quite active although this week posted a 42% negative w-o-w change. Overall, the week ended with 37 transactions reported in the secondhand and demolition market, while the highest activity has been recorded in the newbuilding market with 24 orders being reported.
In the second-hand market, 20 vessels reported to have changed hands this week at a total invested capital in the region of US$ 981.55 million, with just one transaction reported on private terms. In terms of the reported number of transactions, the S&P activity has been marked with a 56.5% negative w-o-w change, while is almost at the same levels comparable with previous year’s weekly S&P activity when 19 vessels induced buyers’ interest with bulk carriers and containers grasping 60% share of the total volume of S&P activity. In terms of invested capital, the most overweight sector for this week is the gas tanker segment grasping 67.24% of the total amount of money invested.

NEWBUILDING MARKET
In the newbuilding market, there has been again a significant slowdown of business with no transactions revealed in the bulk carrier segment. The week ended with 24 orders reported in total, equalling a total deadweight of around 619 mil tons at a total invested capital of region $2,5 bn, with weak sentiment also in the container and offshore segments that are normally bursting of activity. The ordering momentum has slowed down by 70% from last week’s activity and no special trends have been revealed towards specific vessel types and sizes.
In the container market, the post panamax ordering trend is still hot as market rumours suggest that Greek shipowner Economou has inked a letter of intent with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries for a series of 4+4 13,000 TEU units, but the owner has not yet confirmed the deal. Moreover, Taiwan’s Evergreen ordered today 10 ships of 8,000
TEU from compatriot shipbuilder China Shipbuilding (CSBC). Three of the ships will be built for Evergreen Marine Corp, four for Evergreen Marine UK and three for Evergreen Marine Singapore. The ships are understood to cost around $1,03 bn for delivery from 2h 2013. Evergreen’s order follows its orders for 20 similar ships from Samsung HI in July and September last year. The ships will be built with fuel saving features to carry higher volumes while reducing carbon emissions.
In terms of invested capital, the most overweight segment appears to be the offshore with almost 80% of the total capital invested for special project vessels. At a similar week in 2010, the newbuilding activity was up by 150% than current levels with 61 new contracts to had been reported worldwide and bulk carriers winning 80% share of the total volume of reported newbuilding activity.

DEMOLITION MARKET

In the demolition market, following the two months extension in Chittagong the cutting process has started for some of the numerous vessels that have already been sitting on the beach and there are hopes that the market will return to normal business. India still leads the market, in terms of scrap prices and tonnage, by offering $500/ldt for dry and
$535/ldt for wet cargo. Overall, scrap rates have not witnessed significant spikes, hovering almost at similar week’s levels, while the upcoming monsoon period in India along with insatiable demand for scrapping is high likely to push rates downwards. Bangladesh and India are as always on the frontline, while Chinese buyers are trying to pick up geographically positioned vessels with rates at least $50/ldt below the levels offered in the Indian sub continent market. Pakistan has a competitive advantage in the scrapping of tanker tonnage as incoming vessels need only a gas free main entry certificate opposed to the hot works requirement in India and Bangladesh.
The week ended with 17 vessels reported to have been headed to the scrap yards of total deadweight 922,199 tons. In terms of the reported number of transactions, the demolition activity has been marked with a 5.55% w-o-w decrease and regarding the total deadweight sent for scrap there has been a 32.8 decrease. In terms of scrap rates, the highest scrap rate  has been achieved this  week  in  the capsize bulkcarrier sector of  a  150,561dwt called “ETERNAL SEA” at 550/ldt incl 1800tons of bunkers and sold As-is Mundra. Bangladesh this week has attracted 41% of the total demolition activity. Comparing to the similar week in 2010, demolition activity is up by  89%, in terms of the reported number of transactions, where 9 vessels had been reported for scrap of total deadweight 201 mil tons. India was leading the game by paying $150/ldt less than today’s levels for dry and $135/ldt for wet cargo, while Bangladesh had been showing the first sings of shutdown its business.

GREEK PRESENCE
Greek business has shown signs of contraction from last week’s keen sentiment in the second hand and new building market. In terms of new building business, apart from the container post panamax movement by Economou, which is not yet confirmed, Technomar Shipping has contracted 2 units of 6,600TEU each, while iIn the second hand market, two bulkcarriers and two tankers attracted the interest of Greek investors. The total invested capital is calculated at $145 mil for the new building contracts and $ 124.4mil for the second hand transactions.