Hellas: Shipowners return to shipyards

A string of newbuilding contracts by Hellenic ship owners has rejuvenated hopes that the shipping industry is set for a recovery during the following years, although it’s still quite premature to make such claims, as the freight market is still quite volatile and vulnerable to constant ups and downs. Still, both tanker owners, as well as dry bulk owners appear rather agressive lately, in an attempt to take advantage of lower prices of new buildings and better terms from shipyards, which are eager to secure new orders after a dismal 2009. Just this weekend, South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding confirmed an agreement with yet another ship owner from Hellas, the Angelicoussis Shipping Group. Under the terms of the deal, the shipyard will deliver two oil tankers (VLCCs) and two dry bulk carriers (thought to be capesizes with a dwt of 180,000 tons) by the second half of 2012. The estimated price of the deal stands at approximately $350 million. By the end of 2009, Daewoo also won a $670.5 million order to build 10 Suezmax tankers for another ship owner from Hellas, Almi Tankers, over the next three years. In a press release, Daewoo said that the vessels are measuring 274 meters in length and 48 meters in width and are capable of carrying 160,000 tons of crude oil. DSME is scheduled to deliver the vessels from the end of 2011 to the end of 2013. Also last week, a mid-sized Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said it had signed a contract to build a bulk carrier for another Greek shipper and will ink another bulk ship deal with a German company, with the overall amount reaching over $100 million. Contracts are on the rise with Hellenic shipping companies, global leaders in the shipping industry. “It might be premature to forecast, but a growing number of those major shippers could surely be translated to a pending turnover,” a spokesman of a local shipbuilder told Yonhap. Meanwhile, another ship owner, Polembros, owned by Adamantios Polemis, reportedly placed an order for a pair of Kasmarmaxes (82,000 dwt) with SPP yards. The price tag for each vessel is thought to be at $35.5 million with delivery scheduled for 2011. With these orders, the company’s fleet now stands at 26 ships with an aggregate carrying capacity of 3.93 million dwt. Out of these, 14 are dry bulk carriers (plus two more capesizes currently under contstruction), while the remaining eight vessels are tankers. Still, many of the company’s vessels are old, as seven dry bulk carriers are built prior to 1985, while four of the tankers are single-hull. This means that the company’s management is expected to look out for scrapping deals sometime in the future. But, it’s not all about new orders. According to an announcement yesterday, London-listed Goldenport Holdings Inc. said that it agreed with Qingshan Shipyard of China to cancel the two new-build bulk carrier contracts initially arranged in August 2008. This action follows the recent announcement of a new contract for the construction of one Supramax bulk carrier with carrying capacity of 59,000 DWT in Korea. The cancelled contracts were for the construction of two new-build Supramax bulk carriers in China with carrying capacity of 57,000 DWT each and were initially contracted for at a total consideration of US$ 91.66 million, with estimated delivery in December 2010.