Uninspiring earnings and concerns about the market’s prospects are keeping a lid on the secondhand market for bulkers, as both buyers and sellers are trying to find their feet.
“The market is in a phase of rebalancing,” analysts at Athens-based Allied Shipbroking said in their latest market note this week.
Despite falling prices, the number of active buyers is getting smaller.
This “comes as no surprise ... within an environment of soft returns and low expectations for a meaningful revival of the market in the summer months,” wrote Eva Tzima, head of research at Seaborne Shipbrokers — another Athens brokerage.
The value drop is particularly accentuated in bigger and older vessels. Tzima estimates that units more than 15 years old are declining by between 10% and 15% from late-spring asking levels.
Uncertainty is hampering buyers and sellers in deciding to go ahead with deals, according to Doric Shipbrokers.
“We seem to be at a point where no one really knows if the market will strengthen or wane and to what extent,” the Athens-based bulker specialist said.
“As long as the market continues on its current tepid trajectory, the majority of prospective buyers agree that secondhand prices should drop further.”
The value slide is less pronounced in Japanese-built vessels, which delivered some of the most attention-grabbing deals of the week.
In the only capesize transaction reported by brokers recently, Winning Shipping is said to be spending between $16.5m and $17.2m on NYK Lines’ 180,200-dwt Atlantic Tiger (built 2006).
The Imabari Shipbuilding-built vessel may be meant to replace another capesize — the 171,500-dwt Sunny Voyager (built 2001) — that Singapore-based and Chinese-backed Winning sold for scrap in March.
Moving down to panamaxes, US brokers linked Seanergy Maritime to a deal worth between $17.7m and $18m for another Japanese-built vessel — the 76,400-dwt Santa Barbara (built 2011).
Managers at the Athens-based and US-listed owner declined to comment on the reports. However, if they are accurate, the deal most likely was not concluded by Seanergy itself — a pure-play capesize company — but by its spin-off United Maritime Corp.
United Maritime, which is also listed in New York, is known to be expanding with kamsarmaxes and panamaxes this year in a string of deals that are often structured as a bareboat charter.
Falling bulker values will do little to disappoint Greece’s Eurobulk, which is said to be disposing of the 57,600-dwt Corinthian Emerald (built 2012) for about $19m.
Eurobulk was in talks to sell the ship in October last year, for $20.5m.
A deal at the lower price will still yield a considerable profit for the Pittas family, which bought the vessel in late 2020 for a little more than $10m.
Young ships suffer less of a value drop, even if they are built in China.
On 16 June, the Bank of Communications put up for sale the Chengxi Shipyard-built 81,100-dwt JY Bulk (built 2018).
Unidentified Chinese interests won an online auction for the modern, scrubber-fitted kamsarmax at $28.5m, which is not far below the $28.9m that VesselsValue estimates it is worth.
Greek brokers reported that Pan Ocean is spending $32m on an even younger Chinese-built kamsarmax — Nisshin Shipping’s 81,600-dwt Aquavita Sky (built 2019).
Greek and Turkish buyers continue to be busy in the smaller bulker sizes.
Unidentified Istanbul-based companies have been linked to three purchases this month: Lauritzen’s 36,200-dwt American Bulker (built 2016), which is said to have fetched $23m; Shoei Kisen’s 38,100-dwt Pacific Cypress (built 2012), sold for $16m; and Kambara Kisen’s 57,800-dwt CF Diamond (built 2016), reported sold for about $24m.
However, it is not certain if Turkish buyers bought all three vessels. Some brokers believe the American Bulker was picked up by Koreans and the CF Diamond by Greeks.
The most impressive sign of counter-cyclical Greek bulker investing was displayed in the stock market this week, with boxship player Danaos revealing a 10% stake in US-listed Eagle Bulk Shipping.
However, Greeks have been busy on both sides of the secondhand market as well.
Little-known Greek outfit Florence Shipping has been tied to a $13.8m purchase of Newport SA’s Japanese-built, 28,200-dwt Agia Irini (built 2013).
At the same time, an unidentified Hellenic player reportedly offered $12.6m for Parakou Shipping’s 35,200-dwt Greenery Sea (built 2012).
