Tue Dec 13, 2011
SHANGHAI Dec 13 (Reuters) - Chinese shipowners association urged its government to carefully review the safety of Vale's new mega iron ore carriers before allowing them access to domestic ports, the gateway to the Brazilian firm's main market.
China Shipowners' Association said the 400,000-tonne Valemaxes, the world's largest dry bulk ships, have not been thoroughly tested and could pose a safety threat.
The industry group's comments come a week after a leak was found on the Vale Beijing while it was preparing to set sail on its maiden voyage.
"Such mega ships have been newly built ... and it is not yet certain whether they can withstand various sea conditions," the group said in an email to Reuters.
"If there is any leaking of fuel oil, the pollution will be catastrophic."
The Vale Beijing is one of the first of 35 huge bulk carriers commissioned by Vale, which is betting on the ships to slash shipping costs so it can better compete with Australian rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
China, however, hasn't opened up its ports to the ships.
Influential Chinese shipowners are lobbying the government to keep the vessels out of the country's ports, fearing Vale will use the fleet to monopolise the dry bulk shipping market at their expense.
(sourced Reuters)
Showing posts with label dry cargo shippers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dry cargo shippers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Capesize - Tubarao / Qingdao being fixed at strong US$ 29.75 PMT
Friday,Oct21, 2011
Handy
The Atlantic market is quite steady, and market seems to be around the same levels as last week. Fewer fixtures reported though. Fronthauls still around 25k, with a USD 3-4k premium for vessels willing to go through Aden. USG/Skaw fixing around USD 30k, and Skaw/USG concluded in the USD 8k range. The Pacific market remains firm with considerable cargoes seen from Indonesia. For Indo-India, large eco Supra can fetch close to USD 16k for S. China position and NOPAC RV close to USD 14k. Indian iron ore market bit quiet as not many cargoes seen in the market however rates from WCI fixing around USD 12k for WCI-China and 11k for ECI-China. RBCT India round rates around USD 13k. Red Sea fertilizers to India are fixed around mid 20s. Short period rates are around 15k for large Supras but seeing less takers.
Panamax
After two strong weeks and a quiet opening due to activity in CoalTrans in Madrid, the Continent and North Atlantic is still tight for tonnage for prompt loaders. There are less fresh requirements so market seems more in balance including some toppish signs in the USG and in ECSA.TA rounds generally at 18k, trip out 27k. In the Pacific the market is also more quiet after stronger levels above mid teens both for NOPAC grains and Indonesian coal. Some period fixtures are still in the 14 range for short period, but less activity on the longer deals. Decline in Chinese iron ore imports and steel production is adding fuel to the bearish signs and the FFA market is loosing faith in next year as well gradually.
Capesize
A large share of the decision makers were gathered in Madrid at the beginning of the week, resulting in less activity. However towards the end of the week, activity picked up and rates improved. It is mainly the front haul market being the main driver, with Tubarao /Qingdao being fixed at strong USD 29.75 pmt for first half November dates. West Australia round remain around steady USD 12 pmt despite lack of requirements from the big three. Period and short period markets have been inactive, whit takers following closely but generally rating touch below owners ideas.
source FearnBulk
Handy
The Atlantic market is quite steady, and market seems to be around the same levels as last week. Fewer fixtures reported though. Fronthauls still around 25k, with a USD 3-4k premium for vessels willing to go through Aden. USG/Skaw fixing around USD 30k, and Skaw/USG concluded in the USD 8k range. The Pacific market remains firm with considerable cargoes seen from Indonesia. For Indo-India, large eco Supra can fetch close to USD 16k for S. China position and NOPAC RV close to USD 14k. Indian iron ore market bit quiet as not many cargoes seen in the market however rates from WCI fixing around USD 12k for WCI-China and 11k for ECI-China. RBCT India round rates around USD 13k. Red Sea fertilizers to India are fixed around mid 20s. Short period rates are around 15k for large Supras but seeing less takers.
Panamax
After two strong weeks and a quiet opening due to activity in CoalTrans in Madrid, the Continent and North Atlantic is still tight for tonnage for prompt loaders. There are less fresh requirements so market seems more in balance including some toppish signs in the USG and in ECSA.TA rounds generally at 18k, trip out 27k. In the Pacific the market is also more quiet after stronger levels above mid teens both for NOPAC grains and Indonesian coal. Some period fixtures are still in the 14 range for short period, but less activity on the longer deals. Decline in Chinese iron ore imports and steel production is adding fuel to the bearish signs and the FFA market is loosing faith in next year as well gradually.
Capesize
A large share of the decision makers were gathered in Madrid at the beginning of the week, resulting in less activity. However towards the end of the week, activity picked up and rates improved. It is mainly the front haul market being the main driver, with Tubarao /Qingdao being fixed at strong USD 29.75 pmt for first half November dates. West Australia round remain around steady USD 12 pmt despite lack of requirements from the big three. Period and short period markets have been inactive, whit takers following closely but generally rating touch below owners ideas.
source FearnBulk
Monday, August 8, 2011
India: Gujarat Bans Ships Over 25 Years Old After MV RAK Carrier Sinks
Monday, August08, 2011
Ships over 25 years old will be banned from entering India’s key oil, container and dry cargo ports situated in the country’s west coast state of Gujarat in the wake of a coal carrier sinking near the port of Mumbai, according to a circular sent by a Mundra port official.
“In light of MV RAK Carrier sinking off the coast of Mumbai and the resulting pollution, which is now threatening the Mumbai Coastline, the state maritime regulator GMB has decided to ban entry of ships over 25 years of age,” an official from Mundra’s port operation center said in the circular.
“The formal notification to this effect will be issued shortly by GMB.” The Gujarat Maritime Board or GMB, which is the maritime authority of the state, oversees the safety and regulatory aspects at ports such Kandla, Mundra, Sikka, Dahej, Vadinar and Hazira.
According to a shipping agency source, the ban on vessels over the age of 25 years is also applicable to tankers.
“I hope they don’t relax the restrictions once the monsoon is over. They had made such moves earlier, too, but again the authorities became a little lenient in allowing older vessels into the Indian ports,” the source said about moves made earlier when accidents happened.
The MV Rak Carrier, a 27-year-old Panama-flagged dry bulk carrier sank off the Mumbai coast late last week while it was on its way from Indonesia’s Tutung port with 60,000 tonnes of coal to Dahej.
The vessel had about 290 mt of fuel oil and 50 mt of marine gasoil on board, local media reports said Monday.
“GMB has however advised MPSEZ those ships of 25 years of age which have already been chartered and are proceeding to GMB administered ports will be permitted to enter GMB owned port after they have taken clearance from GMB on case to case basis as an interim measure,” the Mundra’s port operation center official said.
“It is however to be noted that no new chartering of vessel over 25 years old is to be henceforth carried out if the vessels are planning to work cargo at any GMB owned port. Such vessels will be banned from entering GMB administered port.” Ports in Gujarat are key for crude discharge as well as for product loading since many refineries are located there while several in India’s hinterland receive their crude through pipelines from the area.
(sourced Platts)
Ships over 25 years old will be banned from entering India’s key oil, container and dry cargo ports situated in the country’s west coast state of Gujarat in the wake of a coal carrier sinking near the port of Mumbai, according to a circular sent by a Mundra port official.
“In light of MV RAK Carrier sinking off the coast of Mumbai and the resulting pollution, which is now threatening the Mumbai Coastline, the state maritime regulator GMB has decided to ban entry of ships over 25 years of age,” an official from Mundra’s port operation center said in the circular.
“The formal notification to this effect will be issued shortly by GMB.” The Gujarat Maritime Board or GMB, which is the maritime authority of the state, oversees the safety and regulatory aspects at ports such Kandla, Mundra, Sikka, Dahej, Vadinar and Hazira.
According to a shipping agency source, the ban on vessels over the age of 25 years is also applicable to tankers.
“I hope they don’t relax the restrictions once the monsoon is over. They had made such moves earlier, too, but again the authorities became a little lenient in allowing older vessels into the Indian ports,” the source said about moves made earlier when accidents happened.
The MV Rak Carrier, a 27-year-old Panama-flagged dry bulk carrier sank off the Mumbai coast late last week while it was on its way from Indonesia’s Tutung port with 60,000 tonnes of coal to Dahej.
The vessel had about 290 mt of fuel oil and 50 mt of marine gasoil on board, local media reports said Monday.
“GMB has however advised MPSEZ those ships of 25 years of age which have already been chartered and are proceeding to GMB administered ports will be permitted to enter GMB owned port after they have taken clearance from GMB on case to case basis as an interim measure,” the Mundra’s port operation center official said.
“It is however to be noted that no new chartering of vessel over 25 years old is to be henceforth carried out if the vessels are planning to work cargo at any GMB owned port. Such vessels will be banned from entering GMB administered port.” Ports in Gujarat are key for crude discharge as well as for product loading since many refineries are located there while several in India’s hinterland receive their crude through pipelines from the area.
(sourced Platts)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
ANALYSIS-Small ships to unlock rate boon for bulk owners
Feb8, 2011 17:32 EST
By Krishna N Das and Jonathan Saul
BANGALORE/LONDON, Feb8(Reuters) – Dry cargo shippers with smaller vessels are shifting to more-risk, more-reward spot markets, eyeing rising demand for sugar and grains — commodities well suited to versatile supramax and handysize ships.
Ship owners generally prefer long-term charters in a weak market. The Baltic Dry Index <.BADI> o-year lows in recent weeks but confidence has been rocked by South Korean dry bulk group Korea Line Corp <005880.ks> filing for bankruptcy protection, highlighting the risk of charter-party defaults.
“Concerns now persist industry-wide, as speculation grows as to whether faults,” Deutsche Bank analyst Justin Yagerman said.
“Continued charterer defaults could bring into question many companies’ above-market charters.” Flooding in Australia, the world’s biggest coal exporter, and weather-srupted coal shipments and dented sentiment for capesize vessels — the giants of seaborne trade routes, typically hauling 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal.
Demand for grains, though, has soared. Wheat prices in the European Union, the world’s No.2 exporter, a year, aided by a Russian export ban due to drought and strong demand from North Africa and Middle East countries.
Global food prices, which hit their highest level on record last month, is a mounting worry for world leaders. Recent catastrophic weather around the globe could put yet more pressure on the cost of food, an issue that has already helped spark protests across the Middle East. Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer.
Eagle Bulk Shipping , which operates supramax vessels that typically have around half the capacity of a capesize, lowing them to haul a wider range of cargoes, has placed half its ships in the spot market.
That strategy has been welcomed by investors, and Eagle Bulk Shipping’s price-to-earnings ratio of almost 35 is the highest among its peers, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows.
“We prefer smaller vessels due to the more favorable supply dynamics, more diverse cargo loading options, record spot fixture activity for the last five months due to a recovering worldwide economy, and the increasing ton-mile in the grain trade,” FBR analyst Doug Garber said in a note.
Genco Shipping and Trading could be another to gain from a near-term rebound in day rates — the cost of renting a ship by the day — as it has roughly half its 2011 days in open or linked-to-index charters.
Conversely, Diana Shipping , DryShips , Navios Maritime Partners LP and others whose fleets are dominated by bigger ships, have placed more vessels in long-term contracts, hoping for steady returns. Diana and DryShips trade at just above 5 and 8 times forward earnings, respectively.
Iron ore and coal are the main drivers of the dry bulk trade, accounting for some two-thirds of demand, but both are highly dependent on China, making the shippers that own bigger vessels more vulnerable to demand swings in the world’s biggest commodity consumer.
Sterne Agee expects Baltic Dry Index spot rates to drop 16 percent this year and 9 percent in 2012, noting these declines will be hardest felt by those owning capesizes, where fleet growth is seen at 17 percent this year and 14 percent in 2012.
For capesizes, the brokerage forecast a 25 percent fall in spot rates this year to below $25,000 a day. Only three years ago, owners of these vessels could charge day rates in excess of $100,000 a day.
Supramax rates are seen dropping about 7 percent to $20,845.
“The largest part of the order book concerns the larger ships, the capes. It is actually the capes that are of a bigger concern to everybody in the industry,” said Michael Bodouroglou, chairman and CEO of Greece’s Paragon Shipping Inc , which has smaller supramax and handymax vessels among its fleet.
“The panamaxes, the supramaxes and in particular the handies I think they will fare a lot better particularly in the second quarter which is the season where the grain trades pick up from South America etc — these are trades which are accommodated in the smaller sizes,” he told Reuters.
The Baltic capesize Index <.BACI> has fallen by two-thirds in the past 3 months to its lowest in more than 2 years. Rates for supramax vessels were faring slightly better, though the Baltic’s supramax index <.BASI> has dropped by a quarter in the last 3 weeks.
“In the next few months, a moderate amount of cargo demand is likely to continue to surface, which is likely to result in supramax and handysize rates remaining at healthy levels,” said Jeffrey Landsberg, managing director of dry bulk consultancy Commodore Research.
“Global grain demand remains strong and will lend support to rates once the South American export season kicks in to full gear.” (sourced:reuters)
BANGALORE/LONDON, Feb8(Reuters) – Dry cargo shippers with smaller vessels are shifting to more-risk, more-reward spot markets, eyeing rising demand for sugar and grains — commodities well suited to versatile supramax and handysize ships.
Ship owners generally prefer long-term charters in a weak market. The Baltic Dry Index <.BADI> o-year lows in recent weeks but confidence has been rocked by South Korean dry bulk group Korea Line Corp <005880.ks> filing for bankruptcy protection, highlighting the risk of charter-party defaults.
“Concerns now persist industry-wide, as speculation grows as to whether faults,” Deutsche Bank analyst Justin Yagerman said.
“Continued charterer defaults could bring into question many companies’ above-market charters.” Flooding in Australia, the world’s biggest coal exporter, and weather-srupted coal shipments and dented sentiment for capesize vessels — the giants of seaborne trade routes, typically hauling 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal.
Demand for grains, though, has soared. Wheat prices in the European Union, the world’s No.2 exporter, a year, aided by a Russian export ban due to drought and strong demand from North Africa and Middle East countries.
Global food prices, which hit their highest level on record last month, is a mounting worry for world leaders. Recent catastrophic weather around the globe could put yet more pressure on the cost of food, an issue that has already helped spark protests across the Middle East. Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer.
Eagle Bulk Shipping , which operates supramax vessels that typically have around half the capacity of a capesize, lowing them to haul a wider range of cargoes, has placed half its ships in the spot market.
That strategy has been welcomed by investors, and Eagle Bulk Shipping’s price-to-earnings ratio of almost 35 is the highest among its peers, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows.
“We prefer smaller vessels due to the more favorable supply dynamics, more diverse cargo loading options, record spot fixture activity for the last five months due to a recovering worldwide economy, and the increasing ton-mile in the grain trade,” FBR analyst Doug Garber said in a note.
Genco Shipping and Trading could be another to gain from a near-term rebound in day rates — the cost of renting a ship by the day — as it has roughly half its 2011 days in open or linked-to-index charters.
Conversely, Diana Shipping , DryShips , Navios Maritime Partners LP and others whose fleets are dominated by bigger ships, have placed more vessels in long-term contracts, hoping for steady returns. Diana and DryShips trade at just above 5 and 8 times forward earnings, respectively.
Iron ore and coal are the main drivers of the dry bulk trade, accounting for some two-thirds of demand, but both are highly dependent on China, making the shippers that own bigger vessels more vulnerable to demand swings in the world’s biggest commodity consumer.
Sterne Agee expects Baltic Dry Index spot rates to drop 16 percent this year and 9 percent in 2012, noting these declines will be hardest felt by those owning capesizes, where fleet growth is seen at 17 percent this year and 14 percent in 2012.
For capesizes, the brokerage forecast a 25 percent fall in spot rates this year to below $25,000 a day. Only three years ago, owners of these vessels could charge day rates in excess of $100,000 a day.
Supramax rates are seen dropping about 7 percent to $20,845.
“The largest part of the order book concerns the larger ships, the capes. It is actually the capes that are of a bigger concern to everybody in the industry,” said Michael Bodouroglou, chairman and CEO of Greece’s Paragon Shipping Inc , which has smaller supramax and handymax vessels among its fleet.
“The panamaxes, the supramaxes and in particular the handies I think they will fare a lot better particularly in the second quarter which is the season where the grain trades pick up from South America etc — these are trades which are accommodated in the smaller sizes,” he told Reuters.
The Baltic capesize Index <.BACI> has fallen by two-thirds in the past 3 months to its lowest in more than 2 years. Rates for supramax vessels were faring slightly better, though the Baltic’s supramax index <.BASI> has dropped by a quarter in the last 3 weeks.
“In the next few months, a moderate amount of cargo demand is likely to continue to surface, which is likely to result in supramax and handysize rates remaining at healthy levels,” said Jeffrey Landsberg, managing director of dry bulk consultancy Commodore Research.
“Global grain demand remains strong and will lend support to rates once the South American export season kicks in to full gear.” (sourced:reuters)
Tags: coal, drybulk, grains, iron ore, shipping, dry cargo shippers, vessels, spot market, Supramaxes, Handysizes, The Baltic Supramax Index, The Baltic Dry Index, Eagel Bulk Shipping, FBR analyst, Genco Shipping, Conversely, Diana Shipping , DryShips, Navios Maritime Partners LP
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