The Baltic Exchange’s secondhand price index for the tanker sector soared to the highest level since January 2009 on Friday, as the measure for bulker prices continued to head in the opposite direction.
The Tanker Sale and Purchase Index reached 6,346 on Friday, a 36-point gain compared to the last reading a week earlier and a 33.8% surge since the close of 2021.
Further value rises come as S&P activity in the sector has slowed from recent heights, but the transaction volume has remained historically strong as tanker spot rates remain buoyant and prop up values.
Greek shipbroker Golden Destiny said there of 11 tanker sales over the last week, down from 14 secondhand deals in the prior week and a single demolition sale.
That’s a decline from an average 16 tanker sales per week in October and 14 in September.
Among the recent sales was a string of transactions involving older suezmaxes.
As TradeWinds has reported, Westport Tankers of Greece sold the 105,800-dwt Sifis (built 2007) for $32m to undisclosed interests in a deal that has seen the company double its money since buying the vessel a year earlier.
Also changing hands was the 160,300-dwt suezmax Maria Grace (built 2002) for $22.5m. The vessel, owned by India-based Grit Ship Management’s Elegant Ship Management, had sold for just $13.3m in 2017.
Lucky 13 tankers
There have been an average of 13 tanker sales per week in 2022, up from 11 per week last year and just eight in 2020, according to the Golden Destiny numbers.
But the dip in activity did not hold back value gains.
VesselsValue’s index for the sector showed a weekly 1.8% rise on Friday to bring it to more than $468 per dwt on Friday. The UK-based valuation platform said that represents a 57% rise over the last year.
Market indicators painted a different picture for the bulker sector, though the value losses were more modest than tankers’ gains.
14-month low
The Baltic Exchange’s Dry Sale and Purchase Index slipped to 3,094 points on Friday. While that is a dip of 0.9% compared to the prior week, it is the lowest level in more than 14 months.
VesselsValue also shows its bulker index dipping 0.5% over the week to just over $289 per dwt.
Sales volume also slipped. Golden Destiny reported that seven bulkers changed hands over the last seven days, compared to 11 in the prior week, excluding one demolition sale.
That brings November’s average to 11 bulker sales per week, down from 17 in October.
On average, bulkers have sold at a pace of 13 per week this year, down from 20 per week last year.
Container ships have seen an even bigger value decline, according to data from VesselsValue.
The sector’s valuation index slipped to just over $9,963 per teu of capacity on Friday, down 2.3% from the prior week and 18.6% in the last month.
LPG carrier values jumped 1.7% this week to $836 per cbm, VesselsValue estimates. That brought the one-month gain to 4.5%.
