Greek shipowners buying cheaper amidst pandemic

Greek shipowners have ranked among the world's best performers in managing their fleet in the last year, focusing on bulk carriers despite challenges in global trade arising from the pandemic.

In terms of value, Greece held second spot on a list of ten shipping countries put together by VesselsValue, showing a fleet worth $100.4 billion as of April. Japan took first place with a fleet valued at $108 billion, while China came in third place ($98.5 billion). In the twelve-month period leading up to March, the value of the Greek fleet was steady as it dropped in most of the other top ten countries, in some cases considerably.

"Out of the 320 vessels bought by Greek owned companies in the last year (March 2019 to present), almost half of those are Bulkers. Νotorious asset players, it looks as if the Greeks are taking advantage of falling Bulker prices to pick up cheaper than usual assets," said VesselsValue. The consistency seen by the Greek fleet value is due to the increase in tanker values, which experienced a bumper end to 2019, added VesselsValue.

However, the Greeks have lost their top spot. In the same ranking some 18 months ago, Greece was ranked in first position but since then Japan has made big strides.

Since the start of 2020, Greek have been particularly active in dealing in used ships 

Based on data from Allied Shipping, Greek interests purchased the most used vessels (65), amounting to $1.1 billion in capital. In total amount invested, Greek shipowners came in after the Chinese who spent $1.54 billion but for fewer ships (64).

Among the deals that stood at is the sale of three bulkers by Scorpio Bulkers, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In early March, Scorpio Bulkers announced that it had sold the Ultramax SBI Jaguar and SBI Taurus, manufactured in 2014 and 2015 respectively, as well as the Kamsarmax SBI Bolero, manufactured in 2015, for a total price of $53.5 million. dollars. However, details on the names of the buyers were not disclosed.

According to IHS Markit, the 81,200 dwt SBI Bolero capacity was transferred to the shipping Titan Maritime, owned by George Rokas. The sale price is estimated at around $ 18-19 million.

Also, Blue Seas Shipping, a shipping company belonging to the Sigalas family, acquired the 63,700-dwt SBI Jaguar, at a price of $15.7 million, according to reports. The delivery of the ships was expected to be completed by May.