S & P 

In the Panamax sector the Post-Panamax beam coal carrier M/V ENERGY ANGEL (77,697 dwt 1998 blt Mitsui) reported sold to Indonesian buyers at a price region US$ 12.5m. Having had inspection requests from about 17 parties and recently invited offers, M/V VIOLET (50,362 dwt 2001 blt Kawasaki H.I.) has now been sold for region US$ 15.7m to undisclosed buyers (possibly F.Easterns).

The handysize M/V PACIFIC ID (27,860 dwt 1995 blt Kanasashi) has obtained US$ 8.75m having recently passed her drydock.

In the smaller sector we understand M/V ATLANTIS V (12,260 dwt 2003 blt Shin Kurushima) has been sold by Japanese owners for US$ 7.6m while M/V NAVISION IVORY (10,134 dwt 1999 blt Shin Kurushima) reported sold to Chilean buyers for US$ 4.25m.

In terms of concluded business within tanker S+P market, c/o Bakri Navigation Ltd have lifted subjects on their purchase of the 2006 built Stainless Steel chemical tanker SHAMROCK VENUS (19,908 dwt 2006 blt Fukuoka). The reported price is US$ 20m, which highlights a significant drop in asset values in the sector when compared to the exact sister, namely the ex HOLLY GALAXY (19,975 dwt 2006 blt Fukuoka S.B.) which was sold for US$ 24m back in October 2011.

The stainless steel M/T MAPLE GALAXY (19,386 dwt 1998 blt Shin Kurushima) has gone at US$ 9m while the smaller but younger M/T GOLDEN JANE (16,476 dwt 2000 blt Kurinoura) obtained US$ 9.1m.

NEWBUILDING  

The Newbuilding market has, perhaps unsurprisingly, continued to remain quiet this week, in what has been the aftermath of Posidonia. With little new business being concluded last week, it has left many owners taking their time to reflect on the outlook of the newbuilding market and its potential evolution over the remainder of the year. This is not to say however that the market has been totally devoid of activity however and we have still witnessed some interesting reports of new business being concluded, within the container market in particular.

Furthermore, it can be argued the market has remained as subdued as it has, because of the continued challenging environment being created by the global financial markets. This perhaps has been exacerbated somewhat this week, with news emerging of yet further turmoil emanating from within the European Union and its ongoing debt “crisis”. As has been repeatedly witnessed over the past year, these shocks in the market, have inevitably lead to a knock on effect in owners access to financial liquidity and hence their subsequent abilities to move in placing fresh orders. That being said however, the reported order this week placed by B.Schulte in tandem with JP Morgan, highlights the fact that there remain attractive opportunities to be found within the markets; across the sectors and that for the right opportunity the financial institutions are still there to offer their support to beleaguered owners.

With competition set to remain fierce between the yards as the year progresses, these opportunities will likely continue to materialise and it will be an interesting one to follow as to which owners are able to successfully position themselves to take advantage of these.

In terms of reported business; In Dry, CSL are understood to have placed an order at Yangfan for 2 option 2 x self-unloading 36,100dwt Bulk carriers. The vessels are provisionally understood to be delivering from the end of 2013 though no specific pricing has as yet been disclosed.

In containers, and as mentioned above, it has been reported that the Schulte Group in conjunction with JP Morgan have now placed an order for as many as 5 option 5 x 5,100 TEU Container carriers at Hanjin Subic with deliveries due to begin from Mid 2014 onwards. Pricing has been reported at just USD 45 Mill per vessel.

In Gas, clients of Almi Gas are now understood to have placed order for at least 2 firm units of 160K cbm LNG carriers at DSME in Korea, with a number of options attached. Deliveries are due from 2H 2014 onwards though no pricing has been disclosed.