Ship owners are still on a “summer mood”, contemplating their next moves in the newbuilding market, as they are looking for further signs from the freight markets. As such activity has been rather subdued. According to the latest weekly report from shipbroker Clarkson Hellas, there were “a couple of orders to report in dry this week with Santoku Senpaku adding further Kamsarmax to their orderbook, this time for two firm 82,000 DWT bulk carriers at Tsuneishi Zosen with delivery in 2017. Navibulgar have also contracted four firm plus two option 42,300 DWT Ice 1C Handymax. Delivery is due in 2016 with pricing understood to be just above USD 24 Mill per vessel”.

Clarkson Hellas added that “in tankers, Sungdong have added two firm widebeam 74.5k DWT LR1 to their orderbook with an order from Nisshin. Delivery is from the end of 2016.
In gas, KSS Line have announced that they have added a third vessel to their series of 84,000 CBM VLGCs at HHI, with delivery of the latest vessel in mid-2016. Looking at containers, DSME are reported to have won an order for two 19,000 TEU container vessels from Bank of Comms Financial Leasing, with delivery of both units in 2017. At the other end of the size scale, Daesun have won two separate orders each for two firm 1,000 TEU container feeders – from Nam Sung Shipping and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG). All four vessels are planned for delivery in 2016 with pricing in excess of USD 19.5 Million”, concluded the shipbroker.

In a separate monthly report for the month of July, shipbroker Golden Destiny had noted that “in the newbuilding market, the ordering levels remain excessive at 93% higher levels than the volume of secondhand purchases. Newbuilding activity represents 29% higher levels than last year (58 new orders on average reported per week in January-July 2014 compared with 45 in 2013) and up by 132% from 2012 levels. (25 new orders on average reported per week in January-July 2012)”. Meanwhile, in the demolition market, the scrapping appetite of shipping players remains at lower levels than last year with 16 vessel disposals per week, on average, from 18 in 2013 and 2012, Golden Destiny concluded.

Meanwhile, according to a recent report from London-based shipbroker Gibson, tanker newbuilding ordering activity has been a rather mixed picture during this year and especially during the summer months, compared to last year’s data. Similarly, trends are different than last year in both the clean and the dirty markets. Based on Gibson’s report, of the 124 tanker orders (25,000dwt+) recorded so far this year, 39% (49 orders) have been placed by Greek interests accounting for 42% of the tonnage. Interestingly, US investors account for 11 orders or 2.7 million dwt (14%) of this year’s placing, which consisted of 8 VLCCs, 2 Suezmaxes and a single Jones Act product carrier. Norwegian ‘listed’ companies account for another 8 VLLC orders. The London-based shipbroker noted though that “we are only halfway through August and newbuilding prices are forecast to continue to soften. A slowdown of ordering in any of the tanker sectors will be very welcome, particularly with such a high delivery profile projected for next year. However, the lure of lower newbuilding prices and the anticipated winter spike may once again entice more speculative ordering, putting at risk the prospect of higher earnings going forward”.

Gibson’s report added that “August is not usually a month when you would expect to see a large volume of orders placed. However, August 2013 broke tradition with a deluge of tanker orders at the start of a period of rising construction prices. Last August saw 10 orders placed for VLCCs a amounting to 3.1 million dwt with a further 2.5 million dwt invested on LR2 and MRs as newbuilding prices continued to march upwards before easing this summer. It has been apparent for some time that sentiment has very much swung in favour of the crude tanker sector as some investors get nervous about the size of the product tanker orderbook. The ordering profile this year shows a very different picture. This week’s announcement that Tsakos Energy has ordered 2 (+2 options) LR1s will be the first contract placed for clean product tonnage since June. Orders for product tankers have been considerablly more subdued since January and well below last year’s levels. In complete contrast July orders for crude tonnage amounted to the 3.6 million, the highest monthly total since the 4.9 million dwt ordered last November when earnings spiked”, the shipbroker concluded.