At least 10 Capesizes and very large ore carriers were offered for demolition sales last week, putting even more pressure on scrap prices.
As the Baltic Dry Index shows no sign of sustained improvement, ship owners have been offloading older Capesizes and other bulkers to minimise losses.
Dubai-based cash buyer Global Marketing Systems claims that year-to-date, 51 Capesizes have already been sold for demolition and 10 of these were sold last week.
A record was set for Capesize demolition in 2012, when 77 ships were scrapped.
Greek broker Golden Destiny reported that Korea Line Corporation’s 1990-built Golden Bell, Mitsubishi Corporation’s same-age Marigold and 1996-built Iron Queen were sold for demolition into Bangladesh last week.
A faulty generator caused Marigold to catch fire in Port Hedland on 14 July 2014, resulting in three crew members being injured.
Golden Bell fetched USD9,647,040 or USD390 per ldt while Marigold fetched USD10,000,770 or USD390/ldt. Enterprises Shipping & Trading’s Iron Queen was sold for USD8,325,111 or USD419 per ldt.
Golden Destiny also reported that Fair Shipmanagement’s 1992-built New Horizon was sold for USD8,691,904 or USD416 per ldt, for demolition in the Indian sub-continent.
Berge Bulk, having sold one of its VLOCs, Berge Vik, for scrap in mid-April, offloaded another VLOC for demolition. The 1996-built Berge Prosperity was sold for USD9,824,045 or USD395 per ldt.
As an indication of just how bad the freight market is, yet another 15-year-old Capesize was sold for scrap. Sea Star Ships Management’s 2000-built Glory Claire was sold for USD8,230,800 or USD400 per ldt. In March, ‘K’ Line sold the same-age Cape Flora for scrap.
However, the unrelenting arrival of Capesizes for demolition puts the ball firmly in buyers’ court. As an indication, Vale’s Ore Mutuca was resold at USD400 per ldt after the initial sale at USD421.50 per ldt fell through.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
