CAP HANDYMAX INDEX  7281 (+101) 18 Oct 2007

Friday 19 October 2007

18/10/07 17/10/07
ROUTE $ $
1 Antwerp – Skaw trip Far East 63,250 63,250
2 Canakkale trip Far East 58,000 57,750
3 Japan – SK/NOPAC or Australia RV 68,500 67,500
4 Japan – SK trip Gib – Skaw range 67,000 65,500
5 Antwerp – Skaw trip US Gulf 42,000 42,000
6 USG trip Skaw – Passero 835000 83,000
Weighted Average 64,906 64,000
Index basis: 45,000 dwt bulk carrier max 15 years, 25t cranes with no grabs, 14k/29.5 ifo,no diesel at sea

ICAP HYDE SUPRAMAX INDEX 10404 (+201) 18 Oct

Friday 19 October 2007

18/10/07 17/10/07
ROUTE $ $
1 Black Sea to Far East 65,250 65,000
2 US Gulf to NCSA/Skaw-Passero 95,000 92,000
3 Far East to Atlantic 71,000 69,500
4 Australia/India (Pac round) 71,000 70,000
Average 4TCs 75,563 74,125

Index basis: 50-52,000 dwt bulk carrier, maximum 10 years old, 25t cranes with grabs, 14k on 30t ifo no diesel at sea

Kupio LPLH po 590 prije 20ak dana.Imam osjećaj da ide preko 1000kn? Po mojim kalkulacijam vrijedi oko 1150kn. Molim komentar?

Tanker orders turn to bulkers

Some tankers on the design board will travel down the slipway as bulkers.

Tanker owners are looking to convert their newbuildings into bulk carriers to cash in on the rates boom in dry cargo, with at least five yards being approached for changes to contracts.

Market sources say South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding&Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanjin Heavy Industries, Japan’s Sasebo Heavy Industries and China’s Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group have been asked to convert very large gas carriers (VLGCs), suezmax and aframax tankers into capesize vessels.

“The spot rate for capesize ships is at the historical high and when these tanker owners convert their newbuildings into capesize vessels, they can easily sell them for good money,” said a market observer.

He adds that the move is being driven by the current gas and oil-tanker business, which is not doing well in comparison with the bulker sector, and projections that the dry-cargo business will remain positive for some years to come.

Brokers say the Vafias group of Greece and Gulf Marine are two of the shipowners that have firmed up the conversion of two VLGC newbuildings at Daewoo (see story below). The two companies are believed to be paying an extra $20m per vessel for conversion.

A European owner that has two 114,000-dwt aframax tankers on order at Hanjin Heavy Industries for delivery in 2010 is also said to have plans to change the vessels into capesizes. However, Hanjin is said to be reluctant to make the contract swap and discussion on the conversion is incomplete.

Over at Hyundai, one Greek owner is also said to have also switched two suezmax tanker newbuildings into capesize ships. The identity of the shipping company is unknown.

However, an official from Hyundai denies that the shipyard has agreed to any contract conversion. He said: “It is true that some owners have approached us and tried to convert their tanker newbuildings into capesize vessels but we did not agree to that because of the extra work that we have to put into it.”

Over in Japan, Cido Shipping, which has five aframax tankers booked at Sasebo for delivery between the end of 2009 and the end of 2010, has also changed the crude-oil tankers into 180,000-dwt bulker newbuildings. The conversion of the contract is said to have taken place in the first half of this year.

Chen Qiang of Rongsheng confirms that his yard has been approached by owners of suezmax tankers to switch their newbuildings into capesizes. He says he is still considering their proposals.

Market observers say it makes sense for shipyards to accept the conversion as owners will be paying the price differences and, on top of that, the costs of building capesize bulkers are lower than that of building suezmax tankers or VLGCs.

On the other hand, one shipbuilding player says he does not understand why Daewoo has agreed to Vafias’s conversion request as procurement of the VLGCs’ equipment, suchas main engines, would have already been done.

“In this case, we think Vafias will be asked to pay for the engine cancellation fees and at the same time, the company will have to fork out the difference in price between the capesize newbuildings and the VLGCs,” said a shipbuilding observer.

Another market watcher says the conversion of the newbuilding contracts will bring additional “burden” to the shipyards as they will need to change the design of the vessels and go through the process of cancelling the equipment procurement.

He also cautions shipyards that if they allow such practices, owners may come to them again for conversions if the drybulk sector makes a turn and heads south in a few years time while tanker business takes off.

By Irene Ang, Shanghai

published: 19 October 2007

Dry-bulk boom shows ‘ugly side’

Substantial corrosion and an ill crew have been discovered on board a bulker sold in June.

The ugly side of shipping’s extraordinary boom has been vividly exposed by the detention of a 25-year-old panamax bulker branded a “rustbucket” by European port-state-control (PSC) authorities.

The physical condition of the 64,000-dwt Evangelia , held for 17 days in Hamburg and highlighted this week by the Paris MOU, was so poor that crew members contracted allergic bronchitis while working on board.

It will increase concern that the recent market highs are encouraging substandard ships to trade on.

Alarmingly, the ship was certified to trade by two of the industry’s leading classification societies, of which one, Bureau Veritas (BV), launched a prospectus this week for a share issue valuing the company at $5bn ( see story, page 30 ). The move is raising questions over whether profits will be put before safety.

The Evangelia was initially inspected in August after the ship’s crew, worried about their own safety and health, contacted the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

A medical report showed eight out of 11 engine-room crew were suffering from allergic bronchitis. The Paris MOU stated: “The health problems were caused by an enduring exposure of the engine crew to exhaust gases escaping from a broken compensator in the exhaust-gas channel of the main engine.”

According to the PSC assessment, ventilation heads for hatches were also badly corroded, access flaps to hatches were extremely corroded and watertight doors could not be closed. Oily water was also being transferred via hoses to the ballast tank.

The ship’s International Safety Management (ISM) certification was also found to have “broken down”.

The ship’s corroding hull was certified by Japan’s ClassNK, which recently boasted that the newbuilding boom had increased its registered fleet to a record breaking 150 million gt, making it the industry leader. No comment was available from ClassNK’s Tokyo office before TradeWinds went to press.

The bulker’s failed ISM certification was audited by France’s BV. BV took on the certification from another leading classification society, Lloyd’s Register (LR), in February and performed an interim audit. An LR spokesman says it had not been involved with the ship for the “best part of a year”.

The full audit was not conducted until the Hamburg PSC inspection in August. In a statement to TradeWinds, BV said: “Following an audit and further assessment of the case, BV decided to stop the ISM-certification process and informed the manager of the vessel.”

A BV spokeman added: “BV cannot know the condition of a ship or its manager until the vessel has been inspected.

“In this case, once that had been done, BV cancelled the ISM. It seems to me that that is the action of a safety-conscious class society.”

As for its flotation, Bernard Anne has gone on record as saying that it will make BV the most transparent of all societies, which must be good for safety ( see also page 30 ).

Despite its sorry condition, the market is still highly valuing this type of ship.

The Evangelia was under the management of Hellas Marine Services of Greece when it was detained while under voyage charter to French charter Cetraga for a grain cargo from Hamburg.

The vessel was bought for a reported $11.5m last December and was sold in June for $14.5m, netting a healthy profit. A spokesperson for Hellas says the owners decided to sell the vessel because it was not up to standard. The vessel was delivered to its new owner in September after being released by PSC. It is now trading under a new name and is understood to be under the control of London-based East European owners.

After the recent sale, shipbroker Clarksons lists the owner as “unknown”.

Paris MOU head Richard Schiferli says he is surprised that a ship of this nature was certified by leading class societies. He

Neko lijepo skuplja po ask-u vec par dana… [smiley2]

Tko god je pametan sada kupuje LPLH. Ista stvar je bila i sad JDPL prije 4-5 mjeseci

Ovo je zlatna koka,smo izgleda da nije toliko u fokusu,vjerovatno je problem drugi sustav trgovanja ili mozda (prije to) mala likvidnost

Moj target za LPLH je 1150kn.
Komentar?

Pa tu negdje i vrijedi prema P/E za zadnja 4 kvartala… Evo naloga na kupnji od 400kom 🙂

LPLH vrijedi oko1055kn