Supramax built in 2003 fetches $29m-$30m

STX Pan Ocean was the talk of the secondhand market after it achieved “an impressively firm” $29m-$30m for an eight-year-old supramax this week.

The South Korean shipping company was reported to have sold the 2003-built, 52,191 dwt New Orion to Indian buyers, for a price that was in line with the Baltic Exchange’s assessment for vessels three or four years younger.

“Whilst this is down on sales reported in May and June it is better than recent market expectations,” HSBC Shipping reported.

Rival Clarksons said the “impressively firm” price was down to a prompt charter-free delivery in October.

Another firm price was paid by Vietnamese buyers for Tsurimi Kisen’s 2002-built, 18,721 dwt Mining Star, a dedicated coal carrier, which was sold for $14.2m.

Other than these modern sales, the majority of deals concluded in the secondhand market were for tonnage built in the 1980s and 1990s at low prices.

Source: http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/dry-cargo/article342852.ece  --- by Liz McCarthy