S & P 

NO transactions were reported here.

NEWBUILDING  

It has been another quiet week in the Newbuilding market with many of the Shipyards only gradually returning from their summer holidays. This, in conjunction with various ship owners still away for their own holidays, has continued to keep the market relatively subdued, with only limited new enquiry being witnessed. In spite of this though, we have seen some further orders being placed in both the Dry and Product sectors, in what looks to be the culmination of some longer term discussions.

As we have seen throughout the first half of the year, the majority of the conventional sectors have seen only limited ordering activity. Whilst the major shipyards have had success in winning orders, it has for the most been limited to the offshore, gas and product tanker sectors. As the year progresses, these sectors will likely continue to play an important role for the yards as they look to fill their 2014 capacity.

With so many yards competing for business however, we do also expect to see further ordering activity in the more conventional sectors, including the dry bulk and container markets. It will be an interesting story to follow, to see which owners move to take advantage of competitive pricing being offered by the yards, for vessels more efficient than anything on the water today.