TOP STORY
Global shipowner and commercial operator Navig8 Group is believed to be in talks to sell its fleet and pools operation to wealthy Abu Dhabi buyers for about $1.2bn. Navig8 officials are dismissive of chatter of a significant deal with a Middle Eastern investor after rumours swept through the market this week.
IN THE NEWS
Sometimes a momentous news story is best remembered through an iconic image. Early on in the Red Sea crisis, we had the dramatic video of Houthi commandoes landing on the car carrier Galaxy Leader to hijack it. At the beginning of the week, a new image will be forever imbued in our memories — a fireball engulfing the Trafigura-operated and JP Morgan-linked product tanker Marlin Luanda as it was struck by a missile.
A US crackdown on ships carrying Russian crude above the oil price cap has prompted an exodus of Greek operators from the lucrative trade, new data suggests. The proportion of Greek operators hauling the main Russian Urals export grade fell from about 40% during the first seven months of the G7-backed scheme to just 17% over the past two, according to data analyst Vortexa.
First hints suggest shadow fleet vessels are being scrapped as an alleged Iranian spy ship and a VLCC owned by a sanctioned Ukrainian tycoon are both understood to be destined for the breakers’ beaches. The 23,176-dwt general cargo ship Saviz (built 1999), which Iran claimed was being used for anti-piracy operations in the Red Sea, has been sold for recycling, according to cash buyers.
Gibson Shipbrokers believes something has to give in the product tanker market as soaring rates are pricing some cargoes out of the market. Rates on LR2 routes topped $100,000 per day last week as the Red Sea disruption added to tonne-miles, brokers reported.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund boosted its $3bn shipping portfolio with tanker and gas stocks last year. The Government Pension Fund Global, which has stakes in about 45 shipping companies, bought into Dorian LPG, Nordic American Tankers and Teekay Tankers.
A shadow fleet tanker linked to India’s Gatik Ship Management has been detained by port state control in Gibraltar after its Russian crew complained they had not been paid. The 50,921-dwt Electra (built 2005) was stopped a week after a ship-to-ship transfer of Russian oil products off the coast of Greece, according to Kpler tracking data.
LONG READ
Joe Brady examines an increasing trend towards listed shipowners going private and how it surfaced again this week. Is playing with “other people’s money” losing its allure for shipowners?
There are still plenty of public shipping companies reporting quarterly earnings in a season that started this week, but their numbers may be on the wane.
COMMENT
The Biden administration faces pressure for action amid the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden crisis, but US strikes are what Houthis want. So is “striking back” the best way to tackle the Houthi menace to shipping, Eric Priante Martin asks.
