By George Georgiou

 

 

The tanker orderbook in relation to the active fleet has climbed to its highest level in five years, driven by a spectacular increase in newbuilding investment since the second half of 2022.

 

According to data from Xclusiv Shipbrokers, a total of 751 tankers with a capacity of 66.3 million DWT were under construction at the end of April, while the existing fleet consists of 7,594 vessels with a capacity of 691.5 million DWT.

 

The orderbook corresponds to 9.9% of the fleet in terms of vessels and 9.6% in terms of tonnage (DWT). The last time the orderbook exceeded 9.6% in DWT terms was in May 2019 (9.64%).

 

The most popular ship type in recent shipbuilding deals is LR2 tankers that carry oil products. Xclusiv Shipbrokers data shows that the orderbook/fleet ratio for product tankers (of 10,000 DWT and above) today stands at 15.1% on a DWT basis, the highest level since April 2016 (15.5%).

 

Regarding crude tankers, the tonnage under construction corresponds to 7.4% of the existing fleet in terms of DWT. This is the highest performance since January 2022 (about 8%).

 

Greek shipowners are once again the leaders in the tanker market. More specifically, of the 751 tankers currently being built at the yards, 222, i.e. 30%, belong to shipping companies of Greek interests.

 

Strong demand and price rally for containerships

 

 

Container ship charter activity has climbed to its highest level over the last months, with new deals closing at quite attractive prices.

 

As Giorgos Bassakos, an analyst in the sales department of the shipping brokerage HellasChart, stated to “Naftemporiki”, the massive rerouting of ships from the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea has resulted in longer journeys and additional demand for tonnage.

 

At the same time, however, there are few ships available for charter, leading to higher fares.

 

“We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which has fueled charter activity in the last week. The market is moving in favor of shipowners and their demands, which while at first seemed unattainable, now seem realistic. The readily available tonnage is and shipowners very limited and we are making every effort to push charter periods up to two years, putting less emphasis on the charter price,” emphasized MB Shipbrokers.

 

“In the past weeks, charterers have been unprepared to meet the demands of shipowners, particularly regarding charter durations.”

 

Greek shipowners leaders again

 

Among the latest deals, many of them are related to Greek-owned containerships. In particular, Braemar reported that the “Navios Dorado” (capacity 4,250 TEUs and built in 2010) of Navios Maritime Partners, owned by Aggeliki Fragou, has been chartered for an additional 18-20 months, for 24,750 dollars per day to Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, a price increased by nearly 15% from the 21,676 dollars a day it was earning on a charter that expired in June.

 

At the same time, according to Braemar, the “Kassiakos” (capacity 4,360 TEUs and built in 2009) of Dioryx Maritime Services, owned by Dimitris Papadimitriou, has reportedly been contracted to Hapag-Lloyd for 11-14 months, with a price of 26,800 dollars per day. In November 2023, charter brokers reported that the vessel had been booked on a charter of up to nine months with Denmark’s Maersk for 16,500 dollars per day.

 

Another notable deal concerns a Greek-owned new ship with a capacity of 2,782 TEUs, which was chartered for two years at a price of 25,000 dollars per day to Maersk.