Shipbrokers believe demand for secondhand tankers has not been dented by weaker rates in recent weeks.
And buyers have been returning to ships rejected earlier on the grounds of condition or high asking prices.
Eva Tzima, head of research and valuations at Greece’s Seaborne Shipbrokers, said downward pressure on rates during the second half of April started to reverse last week.
Volatility has this time been on the side of shipowners, resulting in a premium for most crude routes, she added.
On the product carrier side, the MR market has increased earnings.
“The stalling of earnings in the past few weeks has hardly affected sentiment in the secondhand market, with those sizes showing more resistance to downward pressure - like aframaxes for example - still attracting most of the buying interest,” Tzima said.
“As asset values continue to move north across all sizes and ages, candidates that had remained unsold for a relatively long period — either because they were not found in great condition by those inspecting them or because the prices they were marketed at were considered inflated — are now being closely negotiated or sold at their asking levels,” she added.
The broker also sees increased enquiries for smaller tankers of between 5,000 dwt and 25,000 dwt.
This is already turning into healthy activity as several owners are more than happy to cash in on “generous offers,” Tzima said.
Mixed signals from the market
Cleaves sale and purchase broker Einar Straume said tankers have been giving off mixed signals.
The freight market has been weaker and prospects more uncertain than of late, yet secondhand prices are holding up, he argues.
“Generally ships are, if not flying off the shelves, being sold without too much resistance,” the broker said.
But there are not many modern sales candidates around and asking prices are high.
As a result, it is not surprising that owners are turning to newbuilding orders, he believes.
One modern vessel report sold last week was the 49,900-dwt MR tanker Petronia Pacific (built 2020) to South Korea’s HMM for $43m, against a valuation of $47m by VesselsValue.
The deal may have been concluded some weeks ago, explaining the “surprisingly modest price,” particularly as the vessel has a scrubber fitted, Straume noted.
The ship has risen in value from $38m a year ago.
The seller was Robert Kuok’s Singapore-based Pacific Carriers.
