S & P 

In the capesize segment the Japanese controlled M/V ORCHID RIVER (170,896 dwt 1997 blt Koyo) is sold to clients of Swiss Marine at US$ 12.5m. The vessel has been purchase basis a charter free delivery in Q4 2012 and passed SS/DD in COSCO Zhoushan Shipyard earlier last month. The smaller cape M/V SAAR N (122,259 dwt 1995 blt Daewoo) is sold to Korean buyers at US$ 6.6m (scrap levels) on “as is” basis with delivery Singapore.

Two Panamax bulk carriers ordered by Chinese owners and which have been seeking buyers for some time namely M/V HOUHENG 1 and M/V HOUHENG 5 (76,500 dwt 2012 blt Hudong-Zhonghua) have now been sold to Greek buyers for US$ 24m each. The 15 years old M/V BRAVE WIND (71,333 dwt 1997 blt Namura) has been committed on subs, possibly to German buyers for a price of circa $10.5m basis SS/DD passed in HRDD dockyard, Shanghai earlier this month.

The Japanese-controlled M/V GITTA OLDENDORFF (31,603 dwt 2005 blt Saiki) reported sold again, this time to Far Eastern buyers at US$ 13.25m. The 20 years old M/V IOANTHI (42,001 dwt 1992 blt Oshima) has gone to Taiwanese buyers at US$ 6.7m.

Not much to report in the Tanker S+P market however buying interest this week is focused on the 90’s built VLCCs. The VLCC “SAMCO RAVEN” (301,653 dwt 1996 blt Sumitomo) is sold to Greeks at US$ 25.75m while the “TENRYU” (281,050 dwt 1999 blt Mitsubishi) is purchased by Nathalin for US$ 26m. Finally, VLCC “LA MADRINA” (299,700 dwt 1994 blt Odense) is concluded to Southernpec at US$ 21m.

NEWBUILDING  

The newbuilding market remains very much reflective of the global economic condition; with volatility, expensive and limited finance and challenging trading conditions permeating across many shipping sectors, further investment into newbuild contracting is not an straightforward endeavour.

Nevertheless, there has been enough of a steady stream of dealflow for the mid-sized shipyards to maintain a level of activity in the market - although buyer’s price expectations remain challenging for shipyards to accommodate. For the larger capacity shipyards in both China and Korea, where facilities and production are optimised for larger sized conventional tonnage, 2012 has proved a very challenging year to date. With no immediate signs of recovery in terms of Large Crude markets and speculative LNG demand, coupled with an increased pressure on newbuilding prices for these sectors stemming from competitively priced, old design resale opportunities coming into the market from over exposed owners and problem contracts, the conventional segment of the market for the larger asset classes is certainly under pressure - and with the major yards continually looking to leverage business from these sectors, it is likely that the final quarter of 2012 will not buck the trend that the year seems to have followed to date.

In terms of reported business, Norwegian Buyers, Global Car Carriers have signed contracts for 6 units of 6,700ceu PCTC’s at Jinling Shipyard, due for delivery in 2014. Montana Shipping are reported to have ordered 6 x 8,500 DWT MPP vessels at Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding for delivery in 2014 and 2015.