China-Japan International Ferry (ChinJiff), a subsidiary of Chinese shipping giant Cosco, has sold its oldest ropax for recycling.
The sale of the 14,400-gt Su Zhou Hao (built 1992) occurred during a week marked by minimal interest from shipowners in recycling their vessels. This reluctance was driven by low steel demand and falling currencies on the Indian subcontinent, coupled with sustained high demand for tonnage, as Houthi rebels redrew the shipping lane map, forcing ships to divert from the Red Sea to the long-haul route around the Cape of Good Hope.
ChinJiff is reported to have sold the Japanese-built Su Zhou Hao to cash buyers on an “as is” Shanghai basis for a meagre $430 per ldt, or $2.54m in total. The terms of the sale are said to include full subcontinent recycling options, meaning the vessel could be resold to recycling facilities in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan.
The elderly ropax has spent its entire career shuttling passengers and vehicles between Shanghai and Osaka but was recently replaced by the 19,900-gt Jian Zhen Hao, a ropax newbuilding that was delivered by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in June.
If the Su Zhou Hao is resold to India, it will be joined on the beach at Alang by another cast-off from the fleet of Swiss liner giant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, which was listed in the latest ship recycling reports as selling the 1,438-teu container ship MSC Iris (built 1982) for green recycling at $526 per ldt, or $5.6m in total.
At the age of 42, the Warnow Werft-built MSC Iris is the oldest vessel in the vast MSC fleet, although the company still has a handful of ships built in the 1980s that have somehow managed to soldier along through the many ups and downs in the liner sector during their four decades of service.
Other reported recycling deals for the past week involved several very small Chinese container ships and bulk carriers that were last owned by domestic shipowners.
Ironically, as TradeWinds reported earlier in July, the market for recycled steel on the Indian subcontinent has been badly hit by imports of cheap Chinese steel.
