It may be the mid-summer, but there's nothing languid about the news this week. From the deaths aboard a tanker due to what is thought to have been a state-sponsored drone attack, to eye-popping charter rates being paid for small containerships, and Emanuele Lauro going big on the offshore wind business, shipping's dynamism and dangers are clear to see.
This is what I have been reading this week:
1. $300,000-a-day VLCC after attack? Good days are gone for tanker owners
Maybe you were thinking that an attack on a tanker would give a jolt to languid spot rates in the Middle East, as was seen after a previous incident in October 2019. Think again. Tanker rates have barely budged after the 49,992-dwt Mercer Street (built 2013) off Oman, as correspondent Max Tingyao Lin reports.
2. 'Incidental damage', new leaders and drones: A new chapter in the shadow war
What has changed is the shadowy conflict between Israel and Iran. US correspondent Matt Coyne writes that, because of the deaths of two on board the Mercer Street, the drone strike on the tanker represents an escalation in the spate of covert attacks on commercial shipping between the two countries.
3. Peter Dohle secures record fixture as new faces enter small containership sector
The booming containership market is raising all boats — even the smaller ones. Correspondent Ian Lewis reports on the $150,000-per-day charter rate that German tonnage provider Peter Dohle has secured for a 3,091-teu boxship as the sub-panamax sector heats up.
4. Oldendorff Carriers sells newcastlemax bulk carrier to JP Morgan
German operator Oldendorff Carriers has struck a deal to sell a capesize bulker to JP Morgan that shows rising prices in the sector. TradeWinds' Holly Birkett writes that an analyst sees the $45m price tag as showing a premium over value expectations — even though the buyer will not get the ship until January.
5. Eneti vaults into wind farm vessel big leagues with $600m Seajacks takeover
We couldn't help wonder how Eneti, the former Scorpio Bulkers, was going to deliver returns to shareholders between the sale of its last dry cargo vessels and the delivery of its first wind turbine installation vessel newbuilding. The deal to take over Seajacks answers that question by bringing a fleet of WTIVs that are already on the water and closing that gap.
6. Price of a new tanker up 12% as world fleet value hits $1.16trn
What tanker slump? Despite dismal spot market earnings, tanker prices have almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels, as deputy online editor Gary Dixon reports. In fact, not only have newbuilding prices risen, but rising scrap prices have also lifted the value of older ships.
