HANSA 01-2021

MärKtE | MarKEtS
Orders & Sales
New Orders Container
While there was some activity in the bigger
vessel segments in the last years, a need
for investments for modernization of smaller
size fleets is apparent, alphaliner says.
latest orders were inked by Seaspan for five
12,000 tEU ships with 18-year-charter commitment,
by CMB for up to eight 6,000 tEUs
at Qingdao Yangfan and by SitC, who made
firm orders at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding public:
2 x 1,800 tEU, 4 x 2,400 and 1 x 2,700 tEUs.
Secondhand Sales
The second-hand market for container ships
remains quite active. MSC is said to continue
its buying spree with the acquisition of »texas
trader« (4,990 tEU) for a repoted price
of 15 mill. $. oslo-listed MPCC bought two
3,586 tEUs (»Nordwinter«, »Nordspring«)
from reederei Nord. also involved in the activity
is, amongst other, Bertram rickmers,
whose asian Spirit Steamship Company secured
the 4,255 tEU vessel »Morgana« from
awilco for 14.3 mill. $.
Demolition Sales
The demolition market was very quite recently,
not least due to uncertainties regarding local
pricing initiaves. latest levels were 420 $/ldt in
Bangladesh, followed by Pakistan (410 $), india
(400 $) and turkey (250 $).
MM
Container ship t / c market
700
15.12.20
600
500
400
300
16.06.20
Month on Month 699 • + 10.6 %
Container freight market
WCI Shanghai-Rotterdam 4,575 $/FEU + 85.0 %
WCI Shanghai-Los Angeles 4,110 $/FEU + 1.3%
Dry cargo / Bulk
Baltic Dry Index 1,273 + 14.5 %
Time charter averages / spot: $/d
Capesize 5TC average 13,128 9.1 %
Panamax 4TC average (82k) 12,415 + 19.1 %
Supramax 10TC average (58k) 11,501 + 17.8 %
Handysize 7TC average (38k 12,128 + 14.6 %
Forward / ffa front month (Dec 20): $/d
Capesize 180k 11,650 – 8.9 %
Panamax 74k 11,199 + 1.2 %
MPP
December ’19
$ 7,554
TMI
Toepfer’s
Multipurpose Index
December ’20
$ 6,931
12,500 tdw MPP/HL »F-Type« vessel for a 6-12 months TC
Tankers
Shortsea / Coaster
Norbroker 3,500 dwt earnings est. 3,500 + 16.7 %
HC Shortsea Index 18.83 + 19.3 %
ISTFIX Shortsea Index 666 + 11.9 %
Norbroker: spot t/c equivalent assessment basis round
voyage North Sea/Baltic; HC Shipping & Chartering index
tracking spot freights on 5 intra-European routes; Istfix
Istanbul Freight Index covering spot freight ex Black Sea
Bunkers
COMPASS
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index 432 + 0.2 %
Baltic Clean Tanker Index 424 + 25.1 %
VLSFO 0.5 Rotterdam $/t 370 + 7.8 %
MGO Rotterdam $/t 417 + 15.8 %
Forward / Swap price Q1 / 2021
VLSFO 0.5 Rotterdam $/t 359 + 11.5 %
Data per 15.12.2020, month-on-month
© Weselmann
Christiane Wittig,
Ingenieurbüro Weselmann
damentals are encouraging, especially for
the mid-sized vessels. Between 3,000 and
10,000 tEU, nothing at all has been built
for years. and very little is being ordered
aside from very large ships. demand
is much harder to predict. The pandemic
is far from over and even when it is,
the economic aftereffects will be felt for
some time. on the other hand, it is interesting
to see how active liner companies
are in the S&P markets. MSC basically
appears to be buying anything that
floats. They wouldn’t do so unless they
expect they will need the tonnage in the
years to come.
How fast are market values for ships increasing?
How much more room is there
for improvement?
Wittig: in the container sector every
sale we hear of seems to be well above
last done. and asset prices certainly seem
to have some way to go, the numbers we
are seeing are still not that high by historical
standards or in relation to
newbuilding prices. Buying interest
is coming from many
different sides, not just the
liner companies. access
to capital remains an issue
for many non-operating
owners though.
other sectors are less
exciting just now, bulkers
are largely flat and tankers under
pressure. What we are watching
very closely is MPP. With container
freight rates exploding and severely
limited space availability, break bulk becomes
an increasingly attractive option
for shippers. We expect to see some serious
improvement in the short term, in
the charter market and then also for asset
values.
Are run-off strategies by shipping banks
and distressed loan investors still a major
influence on the market?
Wittig: This process has by now largely
come to an end. Not completely, but it is
no longer a major influence in our
view. it is possible that the improved
values in the container
sector will lead to some
more disposals, but probably
not in a major way.
and that’s good news, of
course. The ‘Everything
Must Go’ strategy really had
a very negative impact on the
market for a long time and destroyed
a lot of value. it distorted the
market to some extent, and that is never
a good thing. Shipping is facing so many
challenges, environmental, technological
and regulatory, it’s time for our industry
to put the mistakes of the past behind and
concentrate on facing the future.
HaNSa – international Maritime Journal 01 | 2021
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