Hyundai gets first container ship order in a year
In a market that has been utterly stagnant, a Middle East oil tanker operator signed the first container ship order anywhere in the world since October 2008.
The Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company placed an order for two gearless box ships of 1,060 20-foot equivalent units capacity at South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, according to London shipbroker Clarkson.
The shipping unit of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is paying just over $19 million for each of the 13,000-deadweight-ton ships which are due for delivery in June and July 2011, Clarkson said.
The company negotiated a significant discount on the price, with similar sized vessels quoted at $25 million at the end of 2008 and $27.5 million in December 2007 when orders for box ships were at a peak.
It is not known where ADNATCO will deploy the ships as it has no presence in the container market, with its previous orders focused on product tankers and bulk carriers.
The deal, announced last week, is the first box ship contract in 2009 and compares with 208 vessels ordered in 2008, 545 in 2007 and 464 in 2006, according to Clarkson.
Modern second-hand containerships also are being sold at steep discounts as charter owners seek to cut their losses in the current depressed market.
A consortium of German ship-owners and finance houses recently paid $21.5 million each for a pair of 2008-built 1,700-TEU ships from Hong Kong’s Cido Shipping -- less than half the $45 million being paid for similar feeder vessels eighteen months ago.
The vessels are on charter to South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean until mid-2011 at a daily rate of $16,500. Current rates for similar sized ships average just $4,250 a day.
The Abu Dhabi deal coincides with news that billionaire Norwegian ship-owner John Fredriksen, one of the world’s top tanker and dry bulk operators, is to invest in a company planning to launch an ocean carrier modeled on low cost no frills airlines.
The Containership Company, established by Oslo shipbroker Jakob Tholstrup-Moller and former Maersk Line executive Franck Kayser, will use cheaply chartered ships to offer port to port services.
The Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company placed an order for two gearless box ships of 1,060 20-foot equivalent units capacity at South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, according to London shipbroker Clarkson.
The shipping unit of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is paying just over $19 million for each of the 13,000-deadweight-ton ships which are due for delivery in June and July 2011, Clarkson said.
The company negotiated a significant discount on the price, with similar sized vessels quoted at $25 million at the end of 2008 and $27.5 million in December 2007 when orders for box ships were at a peak.
It is not known where ADNATCO will deploy the ships as it has no presence in the container market, with its previous orders focused on product tankers and bulk carriers.
The deal, announced last week, is the first box ship contract in 2009 and compares with 208 vessels ordered in 2008, 545 in 2007 and 464 in 2006, according to Clarkson.
Modern second-hand containerships also are being sold at steep discounts as charter owners seek to cut their losses in the current depressed market.
A consortium of German ship-owners and finance houses recently paid $21.5 million each for a pair of 2008-built 1,700-TEU ships from Hong Kong’s Cido Shipping -- less than half the $45 million being paid for similar feeder vessels eighteen months ago.
The vessels are on charter to South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean until mid-2011 at a daily rate of $16,500. Current rates for similar sized ships average just $4,250 a day.
The Abu Dhabi deal coincides with news that billionaire Norwegian ship-owner John Fredriksen, one of the world’s top tanker and dry bulk operators, is to invest in a company planning to launch an ocean carrier modeled on low cost no frills airlines.
The Containership Company, established by Oslo shipbroker Jakob Tholstrup-Moller and former Maersk Line executive Franck Kayser, will use cheaply chartered ships to offer port to port services.