16 February 2017

High prices defy bleak ship demolition market

Cash buyers betting on a recovery in the South Asian ship demolition market in March have been paying above-average prices for elderly vessels.

Some ships fetched competitive prices for recycling in Pakistan, where the government has halted all ship-breaking activity after an LPG carrier, Chaumadra, exploded while being dismantled on 9 January. The incident killed five workers in the recycling yard.

The Blumenthal-controlled 1997-built Panamax bulk carrier Carola fetched USD3.16 million or USD332/ldt, while Star Bulk Carriers’ 2001-built Capesize bulk carrier Star Eleanora was purchased for USD8.26 million or USD345/ldt, a figure described by cash buyer Global Marketing Systems as “unrealistic’.

German liquidators for the KG fund behind 1997-built 2,400 teu feeder ship Anna Schepers sold the vessel for USD3.48 million or USD327/ ldt on an “as is” basis in Jebel Ali. The situation is the market in Pakistan was such that container ships, which tend to go to India, were lured away.

Source: fairplay. 15 February 2017

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