This week, we have more instalments from the best-selling saga that is the Euronav-Fredriksen merger, warnings that building a ship is about to get even more expensive and some unusual cargo moves — just a selection of the smorgasbord of great stories brought to you by the TradeWinds reporting team.
It seems each week provides a fresh set of developments in the Euronav-Fredriksen merger saga. This week was no exception. In response to the Saverys family boosting its stake in Euronav to 16.49% in recent months, the Norwegian tycoon has boosted his own holding to 10.92% via his privately owned Famatown Finance outfit.
Earlier in the week, Fredriksen bought a 16% share in close Euronav ally International Seaways. The move could be either a hedge against the Saverys, a bet on the tanker market or part of a three-way deal, analysts speculated. As for the Saverys, they’ve also been busy. The family that controls CMB has revealed the directors it wants to appoint to the Euronav board ahead of the crunch AGM on 19 May. For its part, Euronav says the appointees are ‘biased’ and has vowed to fight the proposal.
Ordering a ship is set to become even more expensive as inflationary pressures and increasing demand take their toll. Prices are already at their highest since 2009, but now yard managers are preparing customers for even more pain as a combination of higher material costs, labour shortage and global inflation bite.
Canadian financier Third Eye Capital is chasing $11m in arbitration awards against banks and charterers after an unhappy sojourn in alternative ship finance with defunct Parakou Tankers. Third Eye has court actions up and running in the US, Marshall Islands and Singapore as Parakou Tankers’ mortgagee, and Trafigura is one of the charterers it is targeting.
Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay’s next move has set tongues wagging this week. The man behind defunct Genting Hong Kong is looking to start a new cruise company using Genting’s prime assets, according to those in the know. He aims to launch a new outfit from Singapore under Genting Group’s Resorts World Brand, so say reports.
Spiralling handysize freight rates are prompting some unusual opportunities for larger bulk carriers. A Golden Ocean newcastlemax is carrying a cargo of logs for the first time. The ship is moving three handysize stems of logs from Uruguay to China because capesize vessels are trading at a greater discount than handysize ships.
