Newbuilding ordering activity has continued apace, with more orders being placed last week, especially for dry bulk carriers. In its weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “in tankers this week, Dalian Shipbuilding announced taking order for a firm 115k dwt Aframax tanker from China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), with delivery set for 2H 2024. Ace Tankers have reportedly declared two optional 33k dwt stainless steel chemical tankers at Dae Sun Shipbuilding, bringing their series to six overall, with delivery of the optional vessels expected within 2024. Meanwhile, in dry bulk, Golden Ocean Group announced ordering four firm 85k dwt Kamsarmaxes at Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding, with delivery of the vessels expected within 2024. It was reported that BoComm Leasing ordered eight firm 64k dwt Ultramaxes at COSCO Zhoushan, with deliveries to begin in 2H 2023 and run through to 3Q 2024. In the gas carrier market, Iino Kaiun Kaisha announced ordering a firm 23k CBM LPG Carrier at Hyundai Mipo, with delivery set for 4Q 2023. CMJL Yangzhou announced contracting two firm 5.5k CBM LPG Carriers with COSCO Shipping Investment Dalian, with delivery of both vessels set for 2023. Northern Lights (Joint venture between Equinor, Total and Shell) announced ordering two firm 7,500 CBM CO2 carriers at Dalian Shipbuilding, with delivery of the first vessel expected in 1Q 2024 and the second vessel by mid-2024. In containers, it has been reported that an unknown European owner declared four optional LNG dual-fuel 15,000 TEU Containerships at Daewoo (DSME), with deliveries set to run through 2024. Log-In Logistica announced ordering two firm 3,100 TEU Containerships at Zhoushan Changhong, with the vessels set to be delivered in 4Q 2023 and 2Q 2024. Daehan Shipbuilding announced taking orders for two firm plus two optional 1,000 TEU containerships from Pan Ocean, with deliveries of the firm vessels set for 2Q and 3Q 2023. Finally, in general cargo, Jiangsu Dajin announced that Jebsen Shipping declared six optional 5.2k dwt general cargo vessels, with deliveries of the vessels expected to run from 4Q 2023 through to 2Q 2024”.

In a separate newbuilding note, Allied Shipbroking said that “after the clampdown noted the week prior, the dry bulk sector returned firmly back to business as usual, given the good flow in fresh ordering activity being noted. Given the strong orders seen for Ultramaxes and Kamsarmaxes as of late, we saw buying appetite remaining robust, relatively inline with the overall sentiment and freight market trends. Moreover, as we progress further into 4Q21, we can anticipate many pending projects to come forward over the upcoming period.

For the tanker market, the late upward movement in freight rates, alongside the slight reverse trend being noted in sentiment as the possibility of a rebound has started showing some slight signs of taking shape, have all helped interest to return to some degree. If the overall sentiment is about to shift into more bullish territories, we should see further capital being pushed in this direction. All-in-all, with containerships and gas carriers still holding fair appetite levels, we expect many more newbuilding deals to come to light in the near term”.

Meanwhile, in S&P market, Allied added that “on the dry bulk side, the market moved once again on relatively “good” terms as far as activity taking place was concerned. The recent spike in Capesize returns has somehow triggered a rejuvenated appetite amongst buyers. However, thinking about the quick correction of late, this trend can equally fade away at a similarly swift pace.

Notwithstanding this, with both interest and overall sentiment for the dry bulk sector as a whole remaining bullish, we expect this strong trend in the SnP market to be sustained for the remaining part of the year. On the tanker side, the recent rebound in terms of volume of transactions seems to be taking a more robust shape as of late. For yet another week, we saw a fair number of units changing hands. However, it shouldn’t be noted that recent activity is highly skewed towards MR units, with the bigger size segments seemingly lagging well behind at this point”, the shipbroker concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide