Long term thinking from CB Zhang of Huarun Dadong Dockyard.
(Chinese shiprepairers feel sting of market downturn)
"Don’t learn from them, just know what they are doing and think about it. If you learn from them, you will be making their mistakes. But you should appreciate the reasons people have done things this way all the time up till now.”
Insightful advice to the next generation of shipping industry leaders from Prof Wang Xuefeng of Shanghai Maritime University.
“If you have the ship, you should sell the space. But they bought the space — just gambling.”
And the professor reveals a clear preference for traditional cargo focussed trading rather than adventures in the derivatives market or other speculation.
“If all the players feel it is very crucial to raise rates, then, according to the features of this market, they have that ability.”
Cosco analyst, Liu Tao, believes pricing pressures on disparate liner companies are sufficiently alike to evoke a response without alliances or illicit collaboration.
(Carriers ready to fight back against stingy shippers)
“We always remind our members: Don’t expand your capacity too fast because it’s very expensive and if the market situation changes suddenly, you could be in big trouble.”
Chinese ship recycling chief Xie Dehua advises caution as Nimby attitudes become a factor to reckon with.
“The beauty of this project is that it allows for the gradual increase of Zvezda’s participation in the construction of ships first by smaller blocks then by mega-blocks, then, towards the tail end of this 10-plus vessel requirement, building vessels entirely in Russia.”
Nikolai Grigoriev of Gazprom trading offshoot GM&T is upbeat about Russia getting into LNG shipbuilding.
(Russian yard Zvezda being prepared for LNG debut)
And let’s hope there are no tears. Frederic Barnaud of GM&T believes the LNG business is moving into more exciting times with an influx of new tonnage softening the market.
('Exciting times' down the track for LNG)
“The reason I do what I do, the long period charters I try to fix, is always to companies that have other assets, other income, not straight shipping income.”
Vassilis Laliotis is aiming to buy more tankers and bulkers but reveals he steers clear of chartering deals with other shipping companies.
(Canny Laliotis sets sights on more wet and dry buys)
“We will act when clients aren’t just suggesting tenders but when they are actually ready to commit. A lot of commitments are actually made up to two years in advance, which gives us time to put together the right game plan.”
Scott Lindsay reveals Posh Terasea is looking for deals but taking a cautious line on timing.
(Joint venture Posh Terasea poised for growth)
“The company welcomes the new lenders as it believes that the participation of new sophisticated financial groups who value the company and the sector can have a positive impact on our advanced discussions with the lending group and provide a solid platform going forward.”
Villy Panayotides led Excel Maritime appears to take a relaxed view about the sale of a chunk of its debt to Oaktree and Goldman Sachs.
(Excel Maritime woes deepen after Nordea Bank 'sells out')
“From our perspective this was a good deal but we recognise this is the sort thing we can do once, and it will be quite some time before we do anything so significant with our insurance.”
Sounds as if underwriters can breathe a sigh of relief as BW’s James Brosnan reveals there is unlikely to be a further insurance shake up in 2014.
(BW shaves premium in landmark hull renewal)
“The owner is helpless, losing money for many days until the hearing [takes] place, in our case, 10 days later,” he said. “Actoil has arrested our vessels three times in three different countries — each time we have fought back and won."
“The US law concerning maritime arrest and attachment is well settled but, given the length of the depressed shipping markets and the growing amount of unpaid debts, creditors are getting more aggressive and their lawyers are getting more creative.”
And lawyer, George Chalos, agrees that there are more attempts to attach vessels by piercing the corporate veil.
