India’s Five Stars Shipping appears to be selling its oldest ship into a quiet demolition market.
The shipowner is said to have sold the 71,000-dwt bulker Prema (ex-Prema One, built 1995) to Pakistan for $3.9m to $4m, shipbrokers say.
Five Stars, which is listed with a fleet of seven bulkers, bought the ship from E Nomikos Corp of Greece for $24.5m in October 2010.
The sale comes as little business is being done in the demolition markets, as a lack of fresh tonnage is conspiring with limited demand from the buyers' side of the equation, primarily in Pakistan.
"Although the current shortage in the supply of vessels coming from owners has been anticipated by many in the market, the surprising lack of demand from the shipbreakers has left most stakeholders baffled," Clarksons said in its latest weekly market report.
'Underwhelming year'
"If the current shortage of tonnage continues, then this year could be viewed as an underwhelming one in the demolition markets."
But there are signs that the decline in scrap prices may be at an end.
In Bangladesh, Russia's Kamchatka Shipping is said to have scrapped the 7,150-dwt general cargoship Victor Chertkov (built 1991) for a surprisingly high $375 per ldt, which equates to $1.57m, according to demolition market sources.
On the tanker side, Aurum Ship Management of the United Arab Emirates has sold the 45,000-dwt tanker Admiral 1 (built 1995) to Bangladesh, according to brokers and vessel tracking data. The ship has likely gone for $4m.
Aurum could not immediately be reached for comment. The last reported sale of the tanker was in November 2011 for $8.9m.
Elsewhere, India's Sai Maritime & Management is reported to have sold the 1,020-teu containership Sai Sunrise (built 1989) for domestic recycling. Demolition market sources say the ship has gone for $396 per ldt, or about $2.45m.
