Greek shipowners who operate the world’s largest merchant fleet cut purchases on secondhand ships by 33 percent in the first half of 2011 after losing confidencein the dry bulk sector, a Piraeus shipbroker said.
Money invested to buy ships fell to $10.9 billion in the first six months of 2011, from $16.3 billion for the same period in 2010, according to a report published by Golden Destiny SA and sent by e-mail today. June expenditure of $189.1 million was down 69 percent on the previous month.
The steepest cuts were investments in secondhand bulk carriers, used to transport iron ore, coal, grains and other bulk commodities. Greek shipowners spent $3.4 billion to buy 193 bulk carriers in the first half, down from 300 vessels costing $6.9 billion in the same period in 2010.
Greek shipowners own 4,615 ships that comprise 14 percent of the world’s fleet measured by gross tons, according to Clarkson’s World Fleet Monitor, published by Clarkson Research Services, a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker.
“Greek buyers have lost the confidence in the dry bulk segment, which they’re the main buyers in the world,” Maria Bertzeletou, Golden Destiny research and valuations analyst, said in a telephone interview today.
Hiring costs for panamax ships, the largest vessels that navigate the Panama Canal, are down 16 percent on a year earlier, while asset values for that class of five-year-old ships are 22 percent lower, according to data from the London- based Baltic Exchange Ltd. that tracks international freight costs of more than 50 maritime routes.
Greek owners expected the value of ships would drop in the next three months, which might be why June figures were low, Bertzeletou said. The total invested capital was an estimated figure based on deals reported to the shipbroking market, and based on estimated prices where details were unknown, she said.