A lull in the secondhand ferry market has led to two ferries sailing off to the subcontinent for recycling after no trading buyers emerged to extend their lives.
Japanese operator Taiheiyo Ferry KK’s 14,000-gt ropax Kitakami (built 1989) was one of those en route to Alang, India, this week.
The ship, which was making its final voyage under the shortened name of Kita and the flag of the small Pacific island nation of Niue, would probably have found a trading buyer as little as a year ago, ferry industry observers said.
But, at present, there is no interest being shown for larger ferries in Greece, China or the Philippines — the traditional buyers of secondhand Japanese ferry tonnage.
TradeWinds is told that Greeks bought a number of secondhand ferries over the past year, including the Kitikami’s 1991-built sistership, which now operates as the Asterion II for ANEK Lines.
They currently have no more tonnage requirements.
Government incentives
Chinese ferry operators are following Japan’s example of taking advantage of government incentives to build new ferries at domestic yards, while Filipino ferry routes that required large, long-distance ropax vessels have lost most of their trade to budget airlines.
That Taiheiyo kept the Kitakami for 30 years is unusual as most Japanese ferry operators sell their ships by the time they reach 20.
Nevertheless, the old Kitakami has been replaced by the new Kitakami, a 14,100-gt ropax vessel delivered by shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries last month.
Namma Shipping Lines’ 10,200-gt ropax ferry Mawaddah (built 1972) was the other vessel on the demolition sales lists.
The ferry subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Nesma Holding Co has sold the ship to Pakistani shipbreakers for an undisclosed price.
The vessel arrived off Gadani Beach at the end of last week and this week was awaiting an appropriate high tide for beaching.
Built in Japan as the Erimo Maru, the ship migrated to Greece in 1987 after being sold to Minoan Lines and rebuilt into the deluxe cruise-ferry King Minos. Newer tonnage made it surplus to Minoan’s requirements by 2014.
Namma then purchased the vessel and deployed it on services across the Red Sea.
The company has replaced the Mawaddah with the 22,900-gt Aziz Express (built 1987), a former German train ferry that was acquired from Dubai-based Salem Al Markrani Cargo Co at the end of 2018.
Namma has an additional three ropax ferries, all of which were built in the 1970s. There are no indications that it wants to sell them for now.
