Capesize bulker values have rebounded to their highest levels in almost seven months, according to Baltic Exchange data.
The Baltic Sale and Purchase Assessment hit $31.7m on Friday for a five-year-old capesize.
That is up slightly on the previous week. But it marks the highest price level since late February and a 3.9% increase since the assessment hit bottom in early June. It is still well below the $35.7m assessment for a capesize this time last year.
Here are some of the S&P deals that have emerged so far this week.
KGJS poised to continue sales of older LR3s
Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi (KGJS) has put two LR3 product tankers up for sale, brokers said.
KGJS is looking to sell the 158,800-dwt SKS Satilla (built 2006) and SKS Segura (built 2007), both built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.
The SKS Satilla is en route to Gibraltar, while the SKS Segura is on its way to Singapore. The suezmax-size vessels, which are probably worth between $24m and $26m each, have been in the KGJS fleet since they were new.
The sale effort comes after the company, one of Norway's biggest private shipowners, sold two other LR3s this year.
In February, it offloaded the 159,400-dwt SKS Saluda (built 2003) for $22m. The vessel has been renamed Sama and is owned by one-ship Singapore outfit Luendra Tankers.
In June, the sistership SKS Sinni (built 2003) was sold for $20m to Salmar Shipping of Greece and renamed Okeanos. This became the only suezmax in the Salmar fleet.
KGJS chief executive Geir Mjelde did not respond to requests for comment.
At the end of 2019, KGJS had a fleet of 30 wholly owned and partly owned vessels, plus two kamsarmax newbuildings at Japan Marine United set for delivery this year.
Rederiet Stenersen sells modern chemical tankers
Norway's Rederiet Stenersen has sold its two most modern chemical tankers to Finnish oil company Neste.
US brokers said the Bergen shipowner has sold the Taizhou Kouan-built, 17,500-dwt stainless steel chemical tankers Sten Tor and Sten Odin (both built 2018).
The price is believed to be around $29m each. Stenersen had ordered the tankers for $30m each.
The shipowner's finance director, Sigve Stenersen, confirmed that Rederiet Stenersen has signed a memorandum of agreement with Neste to sell the tankers.
“The sale is indeed an opportunity to support Neste to renew their own fleet,” he said.
The deal also puts Stenersen in a position to evaluate new projects for further growth of its fleet, he added.
The price is higher than predicted by valuation services. The ships are believed to be worth between $14.3m and $16.3m each, according to VesselsValue and Maritime Strategies International.
Stenersen acts as a tonnage provider to Neste, Equinor and Shell, either through sales or time charters.
Early this year, reports suggested that Stenersen had ordered up to six newbuildings at China’s AVIC Dingheng Shipbuilding. But Sigve Stenersen said the company has not made such a deal.
Rederiet Stenersen has a fleet of 18 chemical tankers of between 13,000 dwt and 18,000 dwt, all built in China. The tankers are owned by limited partnership companies with investors including Trond Mohn, Tore Odfjell and Lars Chr Wiese.
Greek aframax sale spree continues
Delta Tankers and Eurotankers have offloaded five oil carriers to interests in Indonesia and the Middle East, bringing the number of aframaxes sold by Greeks over the past few months to a dozen.
They join other major shipowners such as Minerva Marine and Eastern Mediterranean, which concluded deals after the market outlook for tankers worsened in the wake of the coronavirus upheaval.
In the latest transaction to emerge, managers at Delta confirmed the shipowner had sold the 112,000-dwt Pelagos (built 2005) for $14.8m.
