Newbuilding ordering activity picked up once again during the course of the past week, as many European ship owners looked to close up pending deals, ahead of the coming Easter Holidays in a large part of Europe, the US and other countries around the world. According to the latest report from shipbroker Golden Destiny, overall the past week was completed with a total of 49 new orders reported worldwide for a total ship deadweight of 3,405,324 tons. This represents a weekly increase of 75% versus the previous week, with significant higher volume of contracts in all main conventional vessel segments. "In the offshore segment, the newbuilding business has finally resumed stronger than previous weeks by grasping the lion share of the total newbuilding business, 31%, while bulk carriers and containers follow with 18% share each. This week’s total newbuilding business is 32% up from similar week’s closing in 2012, when 37 fresh orders had been reported, 2 for bulkers, 12 for tankers, 8 for gas tankers, 4 for liners and 11 for special projects. In terms of invested capital, the total amount of money invested is estimated in the region of more than $1,66 bn, 29 newbuilding contracts reported at an undisclosed contract price. A hefty amount of money was invested in the offshore segment with an invested capital of more than $908,8mil with 8 contracts reported at an undisclosed contract price", the shipbroker said.
It continued by noting that "in the bulk carrier segment, Oldendorff is reported to have placed an order for the construction of two 205,000 dwt newcastlemax capesize vessels at Hyundai HI of South Korea for delivery in 2015 at a newbuilding cost of about $53mil each. In the capesize segment, Alcyon Shipping of Greece has placed an order for three 180,000dwt vessels, including an option one more, at Sungdong of South Korea for delivery from early 2015. In addition, Knightsbridge Tankers Limited announced that it has concluded two newbuilding contracts for 182,000dwt vessels with Japan Marine United for delivery in 2015. The design provided by JMU represents the next generation of bulk carriers with the latest technology available in order to secure fuel efficiency. The Board is of the opinion that it has obtained favorable terms, attractive pricing and considers risk/ reward as attractive from a historical perspective. The Board also believes that after a period of oversupply but with still solid demand, utilization of the dry bulk fleet is expected to improve at the time of delivery of the newbuildings. In the supramax/ultramax segment, Denmark’ s Ultrabulk is said to have ordered two 61,000dwt vessels on long term charter upon delivery from an undisclosed Japanese builder at an undisclosed delivery dates. Ultrabulk’s EVP and head of shipholdings Henrik Sleimann Petersen commented: “The new generation eco-type Supramax bulkers of 61,000dwt fits very well into the needs and requirements of our long term cargo partners. The Japanese quality and commitment in shipbuilding and the historically proven reliability on delivering on their commitments are essential parts of our long-term ability to service our cargo partners. These vessels are front runners within the Supramax segment in being amongst the most eco-friendly designs available”, Golden Destiny said.
The report continued by mentioning that "in the tanker segment, Sumitomo Heavy Industries of Japan is reported to have won a newbuilding deal for the construction of an eco aframax vessel from an undisclosed contractor with delivery in the second half of 2014. In the MR segment, Norden of Denmark is reported to have placed an order for two 52,000dwt vessels, with an option for two more, for construction in South Korea’s STX Offshore & Shipbuilding for delivery in 2014. In the gas tanker segment, Samsung HI said it has finalised the deal to build four LNG carriers for a Nigerian shipowner. The South Korean yard did not disclose either the value of the deal or the name of the client at its filing over the Korean exchange. Some market sources believe that the client is Nigeria LNG, which had secured $1.6Bn in bank loans to fund orders for six LNG carriers at Samsung HI and Hyundai HI. The vessels are estimated to be 170,000m³ and would be delivered over 2015-16. The carriers are expected to be operated by NLNG’s wholly owned subsidiary Bonny Gas Transport".
Finally, "in the liner segment, China Navigation, the deepsea arm of Swire Group, ordered four chief class 22,000dwt multipurpose vessels at Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding for delivery in 2015, including two plus two options. The Chief Class has been designed to meet the unique demands of the trade between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The vessels will feature hydraulic tweendecks and hatch covers as well as electric cranes of 60M tonnes, which will provide a combined heavy-lift capacity of up to 120M t. In addition to general cargo requirements, the ships have been designed to carry breakbulk, overdimensional and heavy-lift project cargoes. In the container segment, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha has ordered five 14,000 TEU ships from domestic Imabari Shipbuilding for delivery in spring to summer of 2015 at an undisclosed contract price", the report concluded