Second Hand Vessels

Moody's Downgrades MC Shipping

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior unsecured rating for bonds issued by MC Shipping Inc to Caa3 from B3. The downgrade reflects the company's deteriorating unencumbered asset base, high leverage, tight liquidity position, weaker operating performance and continuing difficult market situation. Moody's lowered the senior implied rating for the group to Caa2 from B2 and the issuer rating to Ca from Caa1. MC Shipping's unencumbered asset base is declining as a result of the age and declining revenues related to most of its vessels. Currently, MC Shipping operates 21 second-hand vessels (nine liquid petroleum gas carriers, eight container ships, and four multipurpose carriers), eight of which are intended for sale. In its results for the first nine months of fiscal year 2000 the company generated a marginal operating profit, but recognized the shrinking value of its fleet by an extraordinary write down of the book values and incurred losses on the disposal of vessels together resulting in a significant net loss. Moody's is concerned that any possible improvement in the trading conditions of MC Shipping may be insufficient to generate the free cash flows necessary for fleet renewal and debt service. The company's high leverage and tight liquidity are limiting its financial flexibility. MC Shipping Inc., a Liberian corporation, owns and operates a fleet of second-hand vessels

India Eases Norms For Ship Imports

India has eased norms for the import of ships, the government announced last week. Import of ships by open general license (OGL) under a bareboat charter-cum-demise method, which is similar to hire-purchase, will not need a technical clearance by the government, but will need an evaluation of the import price, officials said. "The price reasonableness (evaluation) and interest margin on rental payments will be verified by ICICI," a government spokesperson said, referring to bareboat charters

Costamere Report Favorable Financial Results

Costamare Inc report unaudited financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2012. 
 Greek-based Costamere is a leading owner and provider of containerships for charter. The Company has a fleet of 57 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 329,000 TEU, including 10 newbuild containerships on order. Financial highlights:     •    Voyage revenues of $94.9 million and $291

Diselenginetrader.com Connects Buyers and Sellers

Norwegian Maritime Equipment A/S, who trade in new and second hand equipment worldwide, had an urgent inquiry from one of their customers for a diesel engine to power a generator set. The situation was rescued and a suitable engine was found at Delta Trading BV in Holland by searching in www.DieselEngineTrader.com. Trond Paulsen of Norwegian Maritime said, “The Internet is a very important tool in our daily work. www.DieselEngineTrader

HHI and Transas Hand New Vessel Over to PRISCO

The New tanker Pavel Chernish built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd as part of the 1599 – 1603 project, was handed over to the Primorsk Shipping Corporation (PRISCO). Pavel Chernish is a vessel of ice class 1A according to the DNV classification and fully complies with the requirements of Exxon Neftegaz Ltd, subsidiary of Exxon Mobile. The tankers are designed for oil transportation within the Sakhalin – 1 project. The second tanker of the series will be handed to PRISCO in the near future

Saigon Shipmarin to Build First Vessels for Export

The Saigon Shipbuilding and Maritime Industry Company (Saigon Shipmarin) signed a contract with Japan's Kanematsu Corp. to build two 6,500-tonne cargo vessels. These are the first cargo vessels that Saigon Shipmarin, a member of the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin), has built for export. The first vessel is expected to be handed over in March 2007 and the second, in July. The company has invested over VND 300 billion (over US $18 million) to expand its production scale

GE Shipping to Buy Bulk Carrier

Great Eastern Shipping Company sai has contracted to buy a modern Supramax dry bulk carrier. The 2001 built ship, of about 52,179 dwt. is expected to join the company's fleet during Q3 FY 2007-08. The rationale behind the purchase of this ship is to consolidate on the dry bulk segment and to participate in the increasing opportunities arising out of strong global commodity demand. The company's current fleet of 46 ships with an average age of 12.2 years aggregates to 3.22 mn dwt

Subsidies Top Shipyard Exec Meeting

At a recent meeting of top European shipbuilding executives it must have seemed like déjà vu times three, as Korean shipbuilding subsidies and their disastrous effect on ship pricing in general, and the European shipbuilding community specifically, topped the agenda. At the AWES and CESA annual meetings held in Nyborg, Denmark on May 16-17, shipyards and their associations from 15 European Countries discussed the situation in shipbuilding and related policies

Russian Shipyard Cuts First Metal for Mistral-class Warship

Baltic Shipyard cuts metal for the hull of  first Mistral-class amphibious assault ship for construction in France. Russia and France signed a US$1.2-billion contract on two French-built Mistral class ships, including the transfer of sensitive technology, in June 2011. Under the contract, STX France will carry out the final assembly of the hulls from 24 blocks produced in Russia. STX France handed over in July the first batch of technical documentation on the Mistral project to Russian

China Shipyard Delivers Bulk Carrier to Greek Owners

COSCO Dalian Shipyard has delivered a 57.000 dwt bulk carrier to Common Progress Co Na S.A. of Athens COSCO (Dalian) Shipyard Co., Ltd ("COSCO Dalian"), a subsidiary of the Company's 51% owned COSCO Shipyard Group Co., Ltd, has delivered a bulk carrier of 57000DWT, "COMMON FAITH", to its European buyer. The bulk carrier measures 189.99 meters in LOA, 32.26 meters in breadth and 18 meters in depth.