The scrapping of the74,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) Panamax dry bulk
vessel MV Diamond Seas, which was built only 15 years ago, is being viewed as a
rarity for the demolition market and a sign that all Panamax vessels 10 years
or older will be demolished earlier than expected, media reports.
The Japanese-made MV Diamond Seas, currently at the west coast Indian
port of Hazira, was recently sold in the $260/light displacement ton to
$265/LDT range, with about 1,100 metric tons of bunker fuel still on board.
An unnamed source at Lion Shipbrokers who disclosed the news of the sale
to Platts said the dry bulk sector's sustained weak rates will result in all
Panamax vessels built in 2005 or prior being scrapped "sooner rather than
later" – possibly starting six months from now, if the market doesn't
improve.
Supporting this prediction is a report from Intermodal shipbrokers, which
states, "It seems that disposing of loss generating tonnage even of
younger ages becomes more and more popular as an option for those [owners]
looking to find a quick way out of the 'scary' market."
Konstantinos Papazoglou, research analyst for Bancosta Research, told
Platts that scrapping is a preferable alternative to the $400,000-$500,000 cost
facing owners for dry docking their vessels, an expense that isn't recoverable
in the current market.
He went on to note that "We see approximately 41 percent [800
vessels] of the Panamax [65,000-84,999 dwt] trading fleet being over 10 years
old [and] expect more and more vessels being scrapped including younger ones,
especially if the market continues to be at such levels not even covering
operational expenses."
Although scrapping may be a solution to vessel owners, Poten &
Partners Inc. earlier this month noted that based on the profile of the global
tanker fleet, there are not enough scrapping candidates to offset new
deliveries and quickly support weakening freight rates.
Source: ship and bunker. 29 January
2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment