Spectacular rate rises for some tanker classes could spur interest in quick sale-and-purchase deals, a Greek shipbroker believes.
VLCC rates have burst through the $100,000-per-day barrier for modern ships, and other sectors have shown gains this week.
Eva Tzima, head of research & valuations at Seaborne Shipbrokers, said crude tanker rises have tallied with the most bullish expectations and vindicated investors who kept increasing their tanker company ownership in recent weeks despite lower earnings.
“The increasing excitement has managed to lift sentiment for product carriers as well, with rumoured negotiated levels of some MR candidates revealing once again increasing confidence among sellers, who seemed to be succumbing to discounted ideas earlier in the month,” she said.
“With the jaw-dropping weekly premiums on the freight front igniting expectations for a high earnings summer season, we expect enquiries in the secondhand market to increase in the coming weeks as several buyers will try to invest before asset values move another leg up.”
Tzima said that because the most modern tankers are costly and most of the older candidates have already been sold, the “sweet spot” for enquiries has shifted to late 2000s-built ships.
Tanker sales have tapered off a little over the past month, but Dubai owner Gulf Energy Maritime is reported to have offloaded another vessel.
The 46,500-dwt MR2 Gulf Jumeirah (built 2008) has changed hands for around $23m with a special survey due, brokers said. The buyer is not known.
VesselsValue assesses the tanker as worth more than $24m now, up from $17m a year ago.
TradeWinds reported this month that the owner raised close to $120m from the sale of its entire LR1 fleet. Five tankers were offloaded from May in deals with counterparts in Turkey, India and the Middle East.
Last week’s aggressive rate premiums across several routes are a strong indication that the market floor is still to be found at very healthy levels, Tzima added.
She also believes the upside could be “phenomenal”.
“It does not take more than a few days for momentum to take off, instead of the painfully slow recovery periods witnessed at different times in the past.”
