The reported sale of an elderly aframax tanker to a ship recycling facility in Pakistan this week highlights the scrapping challenge faced by owners with vessels accused of being part of the shadow fleet.
TradeWinds first reported the sale of the 106,000-dwt crude carrier Bradley (built 1999) in October.
The vessel, which at the time of its sale was managed by Global Tech Marine Services of Dubai, was reported back then to have been sold on an “as is” basis in Singapore for $500 per ldt, or $8.2m.
That deal failed, according to recycling sector sources who believe the cash buyer got cold feet as the vessel, originally built as Sovcomflot’s Moscow University, had been accused by pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) as being a regular transporter of sanctioned Russian crude oil.
Since then the ship has been languishing at anchor in the South China Sea just outside Malaysian territorial waters.
This week, brokers again reported the ship as being sold on an “as is” basis, this time for delivery to Pakistan at $450 per ldt, or $7.36m.
This price comes despite Pakistani recyclers offering in the region of $530 to $540 per ldt for tanker tonnage.
Recycling sector brokers told TradeWinds that very few cash buyers are willing to touch ships that have “even the whiff of sanctions”, and although the Bradley has not been officially sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, just being accused by UANI of carrying sanctioned cargoes made it a difficult vessel to sell.
The Bradley may not have been directly sanctioned, but the US government imposed sanctions on Global Tech Marine and two of its other vessels in January for allegedly transporting commodities to the benefit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
“It is very risky for anyone to touch a tainted ship, and that is reflected in the price,” said one broker who noted that such deals are usually transacted by small broking shops operating under the radar.
Bulkers to Bangladesh
The Bradley was one of four ships that appeared on demolition lists over the past week.
The remaining vessels were from the bulk and container sectors, and were all sold to recyclers in Bangladesh who were offering between $30 and $50 more per ldt than their counterparts in India.
Kiva Marine of Turkey sold the 70,000-dwt bulker Wadi S (built 1994) for recycling on delivery to Chattogram for $528 per ldt, or $5.4m in total.
The Wadi S was one of two panamaxes reported as being sold for scrap in Bangladesh.
The second was the 70,500-dwt Brother Glory (built 1998), which Chinese owner Hua Jin Shipping sold to a Chattogram-based recycling facility for an as-yet undisclosed price.
The two panamaxes are set to join Indonesian domestic liner company Caraka Tirta Perkasa’s 1,012-teu container ship CTP Delta (built 1993) on Chattogram’s recycling beach.
The feeder container ship, which was also reported as sold for an undisclosed price, was beached under the name P Delta on 2 February.
