Hellenic Shipping News: Modern Tanker Tonnage Costs More and More, as Newbuilding Tanker Prices Keep on Dropping

06 Jul 2015: “In a recent report, Poten & Partners said that, according to the latest price estimated, a VLCC newbuilding contract is approximately $95.5 million, down $2 million from the end of 2014, while prices for 5 year old VLCCs are currently assessed at $80 million, $5 million higher than in December 2014. Poten added that “developments for Suezmaxes are even more extreme with newbuilding contract price assessments are $2 million lower than levels seen at the end of 2014, while 5 year old values increased by $6 million over the same period. “The current market shows a (temporary) decoupling of second hand values from the newbuilding market”, Poten noted. “As Poten noted, during 2014, close to 2,000 vessels were ordered across all sectors, while in the first six months of this year the total orders amounted to less than a quarter of this figure. The oil tanker segment was the only major category where 2015 year-to-date orders significantly exceeded 50% of the 2014 orders. ‘At the moment, newbuilding prices are relatively affordable compared to second hand values, due to competitive forces in the ship building markets, without being out of range like they were in the 2007-2008 market peak. The spot market strength is not yet fully reflected in vessel prices, which means there could still be opportunities for investors’ Poten concluded.”