Shipowners retain an appetite for newcastlemax bulk carriers with another vessel changing hands in the secondhand market at a strong price.
Multiple bulkers reported that 205,000-dwt Mineral Cloudbreak (built 2012) was sold to unnamed Chinese interests for $38.5m, according to multiple brokers’ reports.
The seller is reported as Hong Kong-registered Anchor Trans and the vessel has been under the commercial management of Belgium’s Bocimar for several years, according to shipping databases.
The Mineral Cloudbreak was built at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Subic Bay yard and is fitted with a ballast water treatment system.
Anchor Trans Inc’s principal is Takumi Watanabe, who is also principal of Japanese shipowner Eifuku Kaiun.
VesselsValue estimates the Mineral Cloudbreak’s current market value at $38.92m, while rival platform Maritime Strategies International thinks the shuo is worth between $37.8m to $42.6m.
The reported price is slightly below what Golden Ocean is believed to have achieved this week when it sold a newcastlemax that was a year older than the Mineral Cloudbreak, but built at a top-tier yard.
The 207,000-dwt Golden Gayle (built 2011), built at Universal Shipbuilding in Japan, was reportedly sold for $40m.
Nineteen newcastlemaxes have reportedly changed hands so far this year, compared to 17 up to this point in 2023, according to Clarksons data.
Future cash flows
The future earning potential for newcastlemax and capesize bulkers has fallen over the past six months, but asset prices remain at elevated levels.
Clarksons currently estimates one-year capesize period rates of $22,500 per day, down 33% from the two-year high of $30,000 per day seen in March.
Newcastlemax bulk carriers typically earn at least a 40% premium over conventional 180,000-dwt capesizes, which would put one-year period rates at around $31,500 per day for the larger vessels currently.
Newcastlemax newbuilding and resale prices have been at an all-time high of $80m since June, according to Clarksons’ estimates.
Average spot rates for conventional capesizes, weighted across five key benchmark routes, rose by $908 on Friday to reach $30,598 per day.
