With the Ukraine grain business opening again after a United Nations-brokered safe passage deal, sale-and-purchase brokers see increased interest for bulkers to serve that trade.
“With hundreds of millions of people around the world dependent on … Ukrainian grain, there has been an uptick in enquiries for bulkers in an attempt to get in on the soon-to-be action,” Athens’ Doric Shipbrokers said on 30 July, when the resumption of the trade was imminent.
The first vessel to benefit from the UN agreement left Odesa on Monday — the Turkish-controlled, 29,300-dwt Razoni (built 1996), which is carrying a load of grain to Lebanon.
It is exactly vessels of that type that have piqued investors’ interest.
According to Doric, this is partly due to the fact that such ships seem affordable amid elevated values for younger bulkers.
“Given the pricey entry to the market, many buyers are homing in on older handies, handymaxes and turn-of-the-century supramaxes,” it said.
“The strategy of focusing on older, more affordable vessels in a firm market is not a novel one, and now it may be a strategy adopted to address the expected — albeit risky — shipment of grain out of the Black Sea.”
The purpose of the UN agreement is to facilitate safe navigation for the export of about 20m tonnes of stored grain and related food products and fertilisers, including ammonia, from the Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
The accord also eases Russian grain and fertiliser shipments.
Some players managed to position themselves early. Turkey’s Arkas Holding, an owner of container ships and oil barges, purchased its first bulker in May, the 53,800-dwt supramax Nicolaos A (renamed Zeynep C, built 2003).
The ship is currently trading in the Black Sea.
Since the safe passage deal was signed on 22 July, reports of deals for smaller, older bulkers have proliferated.
Even though it is not possible to tie these deals directly to planned Black Sea trades, the deals represent at least the last-done level for players wanting to acquire vessels for that purpose.
Clients of two Greece-based managers, Sky Shipping Agency and Marine Sea Services, seem to have found the opportunity to offload their last ships at juicy prices. Brokers in Athens, London and the US reported that Sky Shipping sold the 28,400-dwt Japanese-built Maria L (built 1998) for between $7m and $7.3m.
An even older Chinese-built ship, the 26,500-dwt A Racer (renamed Peace M, built 1996), reportedly fetched about $6.8m for Marine Sea Services — almost twice its $3.6m demolition value estimated by VesselsValue.
The buyers of both ships are said to be based in the Middle East and the vessels are currently located in the eastern Mediterranean.
Unidentified Turkish interests are said to be spending $6.25m on the 18,400-dwt Quantra (built 2000) — a vessel managed by Greece’s Novamaris — and $8.1m on the 25,000-dwt Althea (built 1999), which is the only handy Greece’s Zephyros Maritime is currently listed with.
The Quantra and Althea are in the Marmara Sea.
