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Synonymous with the rise of Greek shipping after the last war was Onassis,
now known as Olympic Shipping
Purchasing
Management/George Procopiou and
Alpha Tankers & Freighters/ Christos
Kanellakis for delivery in 2010. In 2005
these ships were being ordered for $130
mill a unit, for 2008 delivery. July last year
saw VLCCs being sold off the berth for
$140 mill (Nicos Lemos' Spyros to Fred
Cheng). In December, VLCCs ordered for
around $78 mill four years in advance
were being sold at delivery, or off the berth
just prior to delivery, at $120 mill, a markup
of more than 50%. Brokers were speculating
that a portion of the March orderbook
will be a repeat of this type of dealing
nearer to the vessels' delivery dates.
Procopiou, Greece's second largest
operator with a fleet of some 6.4 mill dwt
(44 ships) is currently taking delivery of
panamax and suezmax tankers from
Japan's Onomichi Dockyard and
Universal Shipbuilding. This
formed part of a massive
fleet renewal programme,
which saw some 30 tankers
scrapped or sold. Restis,
despite having his setbacks
in China, had not been discouraged
from building
ships and the group's Golden
Energy Marine (GEM)
signed contracts for up to 10
tankers, eight handymax
products tankers and two
panamax tankers, worth a
total $500 mill. They are to be
built in South Korea's
Sungdong Shipbuilding and
all are due for 2008/2009
delivery. The eight units of
47,000 dwt have been booked
at a reported $44 mill each
and the two of 74,000 dwt at
$50 mill each.
This order came as Restis
was finally pulling the rug
from under an IPO. In a mid-
March filing with the US
Securities and Exchange
Commission, Marshall
Islands corporation GEM deregistered
the 8,625,000
shares it had applied to register
in July, 2005 and whose
registration became effective
in October. The IPO has quietly
idled since October when the price
target for a mixed fleet of bulkers and
products tankers slipped from $25.50 per
share to $15.20 per share.
South Korea's Daewoo won a $381 mill
order for three 320,000 dwt VLCCs from
Athens-based Gulf Marine Management
for delivery end-2009. Ghassan Ghandourcontrolled
GMM already had two 83,000 cu
m LPG ships and five 306,000 dwt tankers
on Daewoo's books. Drytank/George
Economou added four aframax tankers, two
crude carriers and a pair of long-range products
tankers, to the group's programme at
SWS. The extra 105,000 dwt units made 11
ships, of which four were LR2 ships.
Economou was also said to be looking at
contracting VLCCs at the same yard.
Meanwhile, the Vardinoyiannis Group
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TankerOperator May/June 2006 page 11
/Avin International, just beat
the April 1 deadline and
penned an order for four
50,000 dwt medium-range
(MR) products tankers at SPP,
paying around $44 mill per
ship with delivery in 2009.
Avin had been selling tonnage
as it renewed its fleet and
more orders were expected.
Ancora Investment Trust
/Nicos Paraschis extended a
newbuilding programme at
Nok Bong in South Korea with
an order for four 8,000 dwt,
double-hull products /chemical
tankers. As with a previous
four-ship order of the same
type, no price or delivery
dates were disclosed, though
ships in the previous run are
now in the process of being
commissioned.
Roxana Shipping ordered
a pair of 38,500 dwt products
carriers at China's Guangzhou Shipyard
for delivery early and late 2008. No price
was given, but they were similar to two
ships ordered by the Greek operator last
autumn at the yard for just $40 mill each.
These two were also for delivery in 2008
and will enter six-year timecharters at
between $15,000 per day and $16,000 per
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TANKER
Operator
day, with a profit-sharing agreement.
Byzantine Maritime/ Marios
Stafilopatis, signed a letter of intent for two
107,000 dwt products tankers with
Sungdong Shipbuilding. Reportedly priced
at $63 mill they were for delivery in 2008
and 2009. Primera Maritime /Paul Coronis
ordered its first wet ships, with two firm,
two option chemical/oil tankers at INP, in
South Korea. The 13,000 dwt ships, which
start delivering in 2008, were reportedly
costing $22 mill each.
It had also emerged that interests connected
with John Angelicoussis, Greece's
largest shipowner, had ordered two VLCCs
at Daewoo, not one as was originally
reported in mid-February. The second
320,000-tonner was for delivery in 2008 and
was said to be costing in excess of $120 mill.
Unconfirmed reports put the price of the
first ship, to deliver in 2007, at $125 mill.
Phoenix Energy Navigation, set up two
years ago to manage a pair of ex-Niarchos
tankers, ordered two crude aframaxes at
Hyundai for delivery first half of 2009. The
first newbuildings for the Greek company,
the 105,000 dwt vessels cost a reported $61
mill-plus per ship.
“Many of the smaller start-up yards will be hard pressed
and a number of shipowners have been forced to
back-off from contracts sealed in China”.
Brave Maritime, the drybulk arm of the
Vafias group, has ordered two 3,500 cu m
LPG carriers in Japan's Kanrei shipyard.
For delivery first half 2009, the ships were
worth a total $31 mill and joined two 4,900