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02^nd November 2018

NWE/MED

The NWE coaster market continued in a similar vein as last week, with a number of smaller coaster parcels quoted and fixed. Petchem products appeared to dictate more in the market as a number of coasters are being held up whilst waiting to discharge PPL in ARA. Fresh PPL and CC4 cargoes are also being quoted. A number of smaller LPG parcels also appeared slowly over the course of the week. There were prompt positions at the start of the week, however, these quickly disappeared and in some cases charterers failed to find suitable tonnage for their requirements as overall rates held firm. There are now limited positions prior to the weekend, with more positions showing at the end of next week. Larger vessels continue to remain tight due to busy COA programmes, and whilst some have small gaps to look at the spot market, in most cases they are too small to make anything come to fruition.

Some activity was seen in Southern Europe & the Med this week with a number of enquiries on the smaller side which limits any growth on position lists. We understand there are some delays in owners programmes in the Med.

SEA/FEAST

At the beginning of the week, the Eastern pressurized market remained slow as many buyers and sellers were waiting for the release of the November CP. More buying interest is expected after the release of the November CP. FOB offers for November lifting cargoes quoted at November CP plus mid-high $40s/mt in South China.

The freight market has been quiet this week with fewer cargoes quoted for small pressurized ships. In contrast, in the larger segment, owners freight ideas remained firm on 11,000cbm ships, due to limited candidates that are open in the 1H Nov and both Petchem and LPG charterers were competing for these ships. On the timecharterer market, there is a rumour of an older 4,000cbm ship being redelivered back to South East Asian head owners.

Time Charter Fixtures

Vessel             CBM    Charterer  Period     Del  Laycan                  Hire 

GAS LIBRA      85400  SHV           Short TC  AG  8-10 Nov  usd 23k pd           

BERKSHIRE     35000  SHV           Short TC  AG  early Nov usd 18k pd 

Sale and Purchase/New Buildings

Newbuilding

JX Ocean has reportedly placed an order for an additional 83,000 cbm at MHI Nagasaki, which is against a TC to Japan Gas Energy. The vessel is expected to deliver Q4 2020. We understand she will be fitted with an open loop scrubber. This brings JX Ocean’s orderbook to 4 vessels (3 x 83k cbms at MHI and 1 x 80k cbm Panamax at HHI).

Second Hand

Clarksons Platou has been exclusively appointed by a consortium of Banks led by Nordea Bank to market for sale the following two 10,000 cbm Multigas (LNG/Ethylene/LPG) vessels, namely:

NORGAS CREATION – Built 2010 at Taizhou Skaugen – inspectable in Huelva (Spain)

NORGAS INVENTION – Built 2011 at Taizhou Skaugen – inspectable in Singapore

These vessels are attracting interest by virtue of their LNG capability as well as their ability to trade in Ethylene/LPG/Petchems. The Creation is fitted with a LNG re-liquefaction plant. The main engines are understood to be of a type that can be retrofitted to burn LNG. Both Vessels will be delivered free of encumbrances (claims/liens etc) and free of any class recommendations/notations. We are holding full details on the transaction as well as market outlook and inspection details. A dataroom has been established which includes access to independent inspection reports.

Scrapping

No Scrapping news

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