We take a look at what was said in the market in the past week.
“There is only one way of tripling your money and that is moving into shipping.”
DryShips finance director Khanna Pankaj comes up with a powerful argument for handing your cash over to George Economou.
(DryShips sell-down of Ocean Rig ‘likely’)
So honest, knowledgeable and a gentleman.... who can we be talking about? Surely not a banker who would be drummed out of the business for such failings. Astonishingly the subject is indeed a banker, Michael Parker, no less.
(Citibank stays the course in an ever-changing landscape)
“I’m thinking it’s not for me to say that someone shouldn’t order ships. It may well be cheaper for someone with money to order new ships than to buy in the secondhand market. And you can see some well-known names like John Fredriksen who are in that sort of position.
Humble too. The admirable Michael Parker of Citibank shares his views on some top issues.
(Veteran shares his views on key market questions)
“We assist clients by being proactive. We ask them to come to us with their problems as soon as possible.”
And another friendly helpful banker. This time Domenik Nizet of DVB.
(Bankers still claim to be a shipowner’s best friends)
“The availability of new money this year will be much less. About 90% of the shipping portfolio is in the hands of European banks, which are finding liquidity for new loans a problem.”
Simon Deefholts of HSBC warns of a liquidity threat to the shipping industry.
(Lack of liquidity threatens orders)
“Dr Klein has been in the shipping industry for over 30 years and has an excellent track record, reputation and network. He is a proven expert in important topics of relevance for the future such as efficiency and environmental sustainability."
A ringing endorsement of Hermann Klein named as the chief executive of the big new German shipping venture Blue Star Holdings.
Surely Magnus Fyhr of Clarkson Capital Markets should warn John Sinders that it doesn’t do much for your reputation as a hard charging Texan banker if you spend 25 days a year with your feet on the ground.
(Sinders on board to work shipping and offshore accounts from Dubai)
“BP aims to conduct its business to the highest ethical standards and takes all allegations of this sort extremely seriously.”
Good to know that low ethical standards are not part of BP’s business strategy.
(BP investigates bribery claim)
“Historically, Somali piracy has adapted and evolved just as the response against them has. Ultimately, the aim of current pirate gangs is to move into areas where there is a lack of naval coverage, low security measures and a high volume of shipping.”
Insurance broker Special Contingency Risks warns that Somali pirates logical and flexible
(Experts warn downturn in pirate attacks may mark switch in hijack and kidnap tactics)
“In a small company with maybe 20 ships the time of two full time employees is burnt on security matters. It is a very expensive business and we hope to take this pain away.”
Mark Sutcliffe explains the benefits of signing up with a new kidnap and ransom mutual the Maritime Security Association.
(New mutual plugs gap in piracy cover)
“While others have been cutting back, we’ve been hiring. One good thing about others laying off qualified people is that there’s a lot of talent out there.”
Good to hear from Clarkson Capital Markets’ Magnus Fyhr that there is an upside to job cuts.
(Clarkson Capital Markets mops up talent)
"It is not necessarily total doom for yards and there [are] signs of growth. In particular, with further reports of new business being concluded this week, there is a continual activity in the market."
Clarksons Hellas gives its view of the market.
“You have to imagine a big fat whale the size of a block of flats lying on its side, accidentally supported by two rocks.”
Guess Peter Berdowski of Smit owner Boskalis and Micky Arison share the same sort of image of the Costa Concordia.
(Boskalis pins Concordia cost)
“It would have been wrong and also a mistake for the convention to have tried to look into prohibiting beaching.”
IMO ship recycling Nikos Mikelis sees benefits in the old ways of ship demolition.
We are betting that Lou Kollakis no longer needs such a reminder from London high court judge Justice Cooke.
(The basis for beach breaking)
“The test used by defendant GCL and HNA in deciding whether or not to fund a subsidiary is simple. If the particular market in which the subsidiary operates is profitable, the obligations to the subsidiary’s creditors are honoured. If the market in which the subsidiary operates is not profitable, the subsidiary is not funded and its contractual obligations are repudiated.”
Plantiff lawyers Briton Sparkman and George Gaitas take a less than sympathetic view of Grand China Logistics and the HNA group.
