We take a look at what was said in the market in the past week.
“I think derivatives is a mug’s game. It is something the brokers make money on but the rest of us lose our shirts on. My recommendation is shipowners don’t touch it.”
Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp CEO Dale Ploughman, complete with shirt, does his bit to prevent any nasty paper cuts.
(‘Heroic’ demand assumptions needed to avoid oversupply.)
“We are writing to assure Hsu Chih-Chien that this was achieved without witchcraft and/or communication in trance with ancestors/ animistic deities.”
DVB Bank’s research and strategic-planning team reacts to Courage Marine’s boss assertion that predicting shipping markets is more akin to voodoo by pointing out its own scientific approach.
(Click here to read the letter to TradeWinds from DVB Bank.)
“These are new and challenging areas for us. We think of these companies as our sons and daughters. We hope one day they will come home and earn a profit.”
Kenichi Kuroya, newly-appointed president of K Line, has his fingers crossed that his offshore and heavylift children eventually bring home the beans.
(Carrier dismisses merger potential.)
"Ships like ours, with a low free board carrying ultra heavy cargoes, make us especially vulnerable to pirate attack.”
Fairstar Heavy Transport gives Somali pirates a heads-up on what to look out for.
(Fairstar flexes in the third.)
“A window opened up and we ran through it.”
Jan ‘The Stuntman’ Eyvin Wang, CEO of Wilh Wilhelmsen after it ordered a pure car/truck carrier at Mitsubishi Heavy at an “attractive price”.
“We need their business plan so that we can stop the financial bleeding of the company by discovering some good options."
Renny O’Rorong, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s state asset management player PPA which is giving troubled owner Djakarta Lloyd the hurry up on its financial situation.
“Big shippers are no longer VIP customers and with an emphasis on profitability.”
A report from Drewry Shipping Consultants points to long-term growth for containers but a poor European market.
(Box volumes to creep up but Europe feels the pinch.)
“The ship is berthed very close to the city centre, and her crew is free to come and go as they please.”
Cruise North Expeditions, charterer of the Russian vessel Lyubov Orlova which continues to be held in Canada over alleged unpaid debts.
“While initially we were unsure about a Bangladesh-built vessel, we found an extremely well-built vessel when we inspected the ship in Singapore.”
Christoph Toepfer of UK start-up Borealis Maritime which snapped up a general cargoship newbuilding at a distressed asset auction. Usually, Bangladesh spells the death knell for any ship!
“There is plenty of demand at the moment. Zodiac is talking to five or six [parties] and expects one of them will bite.”
A source as Ofer’s boxship owner goes on the hunt for charterers of its 13,000-teu newbuilding behemoths.
(Zodiac talks charters for mega-ships.)
“What Zodiac has and others don’t is the ability to order what it wants, when it wants.”
An insider reckons the London-based outfit can write its own rulebook on ship orders.
(Zodiac talks charters for mega-ships.)
“It has been a fairly wobbly tender.”
A subsea broker as a trio of top names are knocking knees to compete for IMR work from Statoil.
(Race is on for $170m Statoil job.)
“In the beginning, the specs were all wild. Sometimes you have to wonder who works in these oil companies. Maybe they are not vessel people.”
Another subsea broker reckons some oil majors are just all over the place.
(Race is on for $170m Statoil job.)
“The workers claim that after the accident there was a two hour period where the yard authorities did not allow access to the yard to try to conceal the extent of the damage.”
The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking in claims that at least three workers were crushed to death at Sheema Steels Shipbreaking.
“Brazil has no real spot market-yet.”
Eric Stole Karlsen of RS Platou on the spotless offshore market in Rio.
(Brazil offers offshore hope.)
“For years, I have been asked many times and I have always said, no, I would not walk away. Now the case is completely closed and nobody can say I am escaping from the Bourbon Dolphin accident. It is just that now I can choose more freely where I go and this what I have done.”
Bourbon Offshore Norway (BON) managing director Trond Myklebust who is exiting shipowning to take up a new role in a merged Norwegian company.
(Myklebust quits offshore shipowner for new role in equipment.)
