Two Chinese shipowners have joined their compatriots in selling veteran bulk carriers for recycling on an “as is” basis.
The sales come as some brokers report Bangladeshi ship recyclers are lowering their offers on Chinese-built and owned bulkers due to discrepancies in the stated dwt of vessels and what actually arrives on the beach at Chattogram.
Reports published over the weekend list Tianjin Guodian Shipping selling the Samsung-built 69,200 bulker Guo Dian 6 (built 1993) to cash buyers on an “as is” basis in Shanghai for $468 per ldt, or $4.5m in total.
Fujian Shipping is reported to have sold the Imabari-built 73,200-dwt Jin Hai Fu (built 1995) to cash buyers “as is” for $469 per ldt, or $4.97m.
Chinese bulker owners have been the most prolific sellers of scrap-bound tonnage over the past 12 months, offloading 35 handysize to panamax bulkers for recycling. Almost all have gone to scrappers in Bangladesh.
Not all deals have proceeded smoothly, according to brokers who follow the ship recycling sector.
According to at least two brokers, Bangladeshi ship recyclers have complained that bulkers built in China for the country’s domestic trades have often come up short in terms of the amount of steel that the ship is said to contain.
“They are finding discrepancies of up to 500 ldt per vessel on Chinese-built domestic trade bulk carriers. As they buy the ships from cash buyers on an “as is” basis, they have no recourse to recoup the loss, and have adjusted their offering price for such ships downwards to take into potential tonnage discrepancies,” a Singapore-based broker said.
The Tianjin Guodian and Fujian Shipping bulkers were built in South Korea and Japan and the prices they fetched reflect a more accurate level for bulker tonnage sold “as is”, with the length and cost of the delivery voyage to the Indian subcontinent that the cash buyer must underwrite playing a role in determining the price.
For example, Indobaruna Bulk Transport in Indonesia achieved a slightly higher price of $485 per ldt, or $3.38m, for its 24,800-dwt handysize limestone carrier Mudita (built 1983) when it was sold to cash buyers “as is” in Batam last week.
The voyage distance to Bangladesh from Batam, which is located on the Singapore Strait, is half of that from China.
