Shipowners have become more willing to take haircuts on vessel scrapping deals agreed before the coronavirus pandemic devastated the market.
TradeWinds has previously reported that bans on ship beaching in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had hammered the sector, with parties unwilling to revise earlier agreements.
But demolition broker Ed McIlvaney said the last week saw prices negotiated downwards for tonnage committed before the lockdowns.
Among the deals, National Power Supply of Thailand had originally sold the 172,000-dwt NPS Century (built 2000) to India for some $385 per ldt to $389 per ldt in late February.
Demolition sources have now said the ship is reported to have been sold to Bangladesh for just $308 per ldt. The vessel's owner has been contacted for comment.
The 42,000-dwt handysize bulker Crateus (built 1997), which was previously said to have been offloaded at $380 per ldt, has also taken a price cut. Brokers said it has now gone for $295 per ldt. The bulker's owner, Norwest Navigation of Brazil, could not be contacted for this story.
"The week was particularly notable for the number of owners who are realistic enough to fully appreciate that ongoing problems are not directly attributable to the buyers," McIlvaney said.
This has led to resolutions, he added.
"It is extremely commendable of the owners who are, similarly through no fault of their own, suffering quite substantial losses."
An even lower price was reported for the sale of Polaris Shipping's 298,000-dwt Stellar Rio (built 1994). Demolition market sources said the price has been renegotiated down to $290 per ldt, or $13.4m, for the 46,200-ldt ship.
But the latest reported sale, that of the 48,000-gt NYK Line car carrier Aegean Leader (built 1993), committed for green recycling into India, shows an even lower level of $285 per ldt.
McIlvaney added that some owners have "taken the opportunity to continue further trading for six or more months to enable them to ascertain their future strategy once this terrible virus has been contained or at a minimum controlled as much as possible".
Some other vessels are locked in legal processes to end the impasse, he said.
In other deals emerging in recent days, the price for Victoria Oceanway's 1,597-teu containership Star of Luck (built 1997) has been renegotiated down to $305 per ldt after a March deal to sell the ship to Bangladesh for $375 per ldt.
The prices represent a slump from a peak of $415 per ldt in February, the highest price so far in 2020 when Bihar International sold its 112,000-dwt tanker Balsam (built 1996) for demolition.
With the vessel coming in at 16,909 ldt, the deal could be worth more than $7m.
