We talk a fair bit on the shipping industry lately. Why i tune in alot to this was probably due to my investment in Courage Marine as well as the shipping industry is how goods are shipped from one place to another and a good barometer on international trade.
However this bit of news are more likely related to potential impact faced by locally listed ship builders like YangZijiang and Coso.
Shipowners are forfeiting tens of millions of dollars to cancel contracts to buy vessels rendered uneconomic by one of the industrys sharpest downturns.
Last week, New York-listed Genco Shipping announced it was forfeiting $53m in deposits it had placed to buy six new vessels due to cost a total $530m.Hellenic Carriers, listed on Londons junior Aim market, said it was forfeiting a $6.97m deposit and making a further $1m payment to abandon a $69.7m contract sealed in July to buy a dry-bulk carrier.
At the same time, Oslo-listed Golden Ocean told Lloyds List, the shipping daily, it was reviewing its ship orders, although none had yet been cancelled.
The cancellations follow a collapse in the short-term, spot market rates for dry-bulk ships carrying iron ore, coal, bauxite, wheat and other commodities. The fall of 71.9 per cent in October alone has sent ship values tumbling. Consequently, it is often more worthwhile for shipowners to forfeit their deposits and pay compensation than to go through with deals on which they would never earn a reasonable return.
Quentin Soanes, managing director of Braemar Seascope, a London shipbroker, said that, for the worst-hit sizes of dry-bulk carriers, 40-50 per cent of existing orders could be cancelled. Braemars current estimate of the world order book of dry bulk ships stands at 3,920 vessels.
he said: Its going to be very, very messy, I think,.
By cancelling orders, the shipowners rfelease badly needed cash they would otherwise have to put towards future payments on ship purchase…
Shipyards, meanwhile, are struggling to secure the guarantees that will refund shipowners if they fail to complete their orders. Without such guarantees, orders become void.
Stamatis Molaris, chief executive of Excel Maritime Carriers, told investors he no longer expected to receive four large dry-bulk carriers ordered for $311m from Korea Shipyard in Mokpo, South Korea.
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