Browse：6350

From：ASB

Time：2016-03-31

Capesize owners are feeling the pain of the dire freight market, and have reacted accordingly, according to VesselsValue. Senior Data Editor, Craig Jallal, has been searching through the VV Deals database and has found that orderbook slippage is increasing: half the number of Capesize newbuildings scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2016 have been pushed back to later in the year or beyond.

According to VesselsValue, the weak state of the dry bulk freight market is forcing owners to re-think the delivery schedule of vessels due for delivery. One tactic is to delay delivery of vessels, and this can be illustrated by the difference between the original delivery date, and any new delivery date, known as slippage. VV’s Craig Jalla, noted that “taking the Capesize sector as an example, and excluding VLOCs, as at the end of December 2015, there were 28 vessels due for delivery in the first quarter of 2016. As of late March, nine Capesize had been launched but had not entered the fleet. A further four had entered the fleet, and one vessel had been cancelled. The remaining 14 Capesize, half the original expected deliveries, have new delivery dates extending beyond the first quarter.

The delayed Capesize vessels have been ordered by a range of owners from Greece, Northern Europe and the Far East. There does not seem to be any defining characteristic other than a desire to delay delivery of the vessel into a dire market.

Meanwhile, on other front of the supply scale, i.e. demolition activity, things are also pointing towards a significant reduction of tonnage supply. According to the latest weekly report from shipbroker Fearnleys, bulk carrier scrapping has hit an all-time high in the same period, with about 165 bulkers scrapped, representing about 1.7% of the world`s bulker fleet. High numbers of Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers have also been scrapped over the past year to date, with some 2.1% and 1.8% of the respective fleets sold for demolition”. However, despite these impressive numbers, it still is too soon for optimism.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide