Doubts are being raised over whether the sale-and-purchase market can continue to operate smoothly as crew and shipowner inspectors find it increasingly difficult to get to vessels.
A number of deals have been concluded, suggesting that buyers and sellers have been able to find a way to make deals work.
But, in the most recent case that has raised alarm, the proposed sale of K Line's 79,514-cbm gas carrier Grace River (built 2003) to India’s Bashundhara LP Gas has apparently failed because the crew exchange was not allowed to happen.
The Grace River has a market value of $32.37m, according to VesselsValue.
The handover was scheduled to take place in Singapore — a key location for secondhand vessels to change ownership — where the ship is now laid up.
K Line declined to comment on the deal.
The city-state has reportedly relaxed a ban on crew exchanges. However, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) still has strict conditions on the switching of crew.
Exceptional circumstances
The MPA said it will only accept an exchange where a crewing contract has expired and the ship’s flag state will not grant an extension, on compassionate grounds, or if the crew is not medically fit to work.
Documentary evidence must be presented to support any application for an exchange of crew, and guarantees must be provided that the crew has not been in contact with anyone that has contracted, or is suspected to have contracted, Covid-19 for 14 days.
But, apart from these exceptions, the MPA said the temporary suspension on crew exchange remains in place.
Brokers said the only way a buyer can take delivery of a secondhand acquisition is if it agrees to take on a seller’s crew.
Another major problem is that owners' representatives are also finding it difficult to get on board vessels for inspections because of travel restrictions.
NS United's 302,000-dwt VLCC Yugawasan (built 2005) was being widely circulated for sale, but brokers suggest ship inspections have been difficult to arrange.
The vessel was anchored off Singapore last week, but it is currently in the Indian Ocean on its way to the Saudi Arabian port city of Ras Tanura.
