GeorgeGourdomichalis of G Bros warns he is not about to put ships under the Greekflag.
“The Greek state needs to understand thepotential shipping has and try to unlock it .......Talking about taxationdoesn’t solve the problem. It is a question of how much owners are going todivert for investments in Greece.”
And John Coustas of Danaos indicates he isalso looking for a more competitive environment.
“Nowwe’ve hit bottom, are we willing to look at things realistically?”
FormerThenamaris director, Manolis Vordonis, poses the big question.
Wecan do this with or without you, shipowners tell Greek government
“Theprice of bunkers is very high now, so I think the most important thing isperformance and not age. If the condition of the ship is good, the age is notan important criterion,” said Sun.
SunZhijun of Winning Shipping is in the market for economical bulkers and is preparedto look at older tonnage.
Singapore'sWinning continues fleet renewal
“$7,000a day for a ship isn’t even enough to pay the crew and cover regularmaintenance. With rates this low, owners are no longer able to pay their debts— unless they tap into their own capital — and cannot pay for repairs......Thisinsecurity has consequences for the level of quality, which is liable to falldue to the lack of maintenance, with a real threat of a return to substandardvessels.”
Marfretchairman, Raymond Vidil, lays the risk of inadequate freight rates on the line.
Frenchowner fears of substandard boxship fleet
“Ifyou compare someone sitting in Cyprus, or in Glasgow, or in Singapore, no owneris willing to pay us more fees because we are in Singapore and our staff costsmore.”
OlavEek Thorstensen warns that Singapore is getting too expensive for a shipmanager Thome.
“Withshipowners continuing to experience difficult trading conditions, some membersmay prefer to trade at lower insurance cost today against the possibility of anextra call which may or may not be necessary in the future.”
Somethingnear to heresy from Marsh with the broker raising the possibility that someshipowners are so hard pressed that a future cash call is preferable to apremium hike.
Clubshift from higher financial risk deemed uneven
“Thecrash is definitely in our rearview mirror. Undoubtedly, vessel utilisation isup and, because of the overhang in supply, the day rates have not come backstrong. But no one has introduced a new vessel category yet. I guarantee youtoday that if you build a 2,500-dwt PSV with diesel-electric and advancedsystems and take it to Qatar, you will get a good rate. I even know thecustomer who will do it for you.”
FazelFazelbhoy has no doubt about the outlook for advanced offshore support vessels.
Fazelbhoydeclares good timing for high-spec orders
“There is a level of uncertainty as peoplepull out. If you are looking for security you maybe turn to the old boys whohave been in the industry for a long time.”
Ahelpful attitude for John Wiik who recently marked the 175 anniversary of themutual insurance concern he runs.
“Thereis no co-operation, merger, alliance of any kind between Peter Dohle and Stuwe& Co.”
ChristophDohle rules out talk of co-operation in the feeder containership market.
"Ithas been outrageous from start to finish. People were falling like flies. Everyoneis saying, 'this is a plague ship'. It's a living nightmare."
Seemsthat Paul Gilmore has been less than impressed by a novovirus hit cruise tohell on the Oriana.
