Busy H1 for shipowners
Greek shipowners seem to have been particularly active during the first half of 2010, as data compiled by shipbrokers G. Moundreas SA show that in the January-to-June period there were 117 orders placed for new ships totaling $4.9 billion. The majority of the orders (93) concern dry-bulk carriers with a total capacity of 7.8 million tons and a total value of $3.3 billion. Another 22 orders concern tankers totaling 4 million deadweight tons in capacity and $1.5 billion in value. Two orders have also been placed for container ships whose capacity is for a total 2,080 containers for a value of $36 million. The bulk of orders (77) have been made with South Korean shipyards, of which 57 are dry-bulkers, 18 are tankers and two are container ships. China came second in orders, with 38, consisting of 34 dry-bulkers and four tankers. Japan had just two orders from Greek shipowners. The firm’s analysis showed that in the first half of the year international shipowners have been reluctant to place new orders given the drop in chartering rates, which has led to prices stabilizing, with forecasts indicating a decline. Therefore a new dry-bulker’s price ranges between $24-68 million and a new tanker in the VLCC category costs between $54-100 million.
