Ship Recycling: Few Sales Confirmed

January 21, 2024

Source: GMS

In its Week 3 market report, cash buyer GMS says that even as vessel prices have improved from the lows seen towards the end of 2023 and plate prices made a massive jump in Bangladesh over the last couple of weeks, only a trickle of sales have been confirmed into the recycling markets in 2024 thus far.

“There also seems a reluctance from ship owners to bite at current offers in the low USD 500s/LDT, having seen levels around USD 100/LDT higher only a couple of quarters ago. Mercifully, L/C restrictions have been easing in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and as a result, a noticeable interest to buy has been emerging from both markets. India on the other hand continues to suffer with steel price declines that are leaving end buyers scratching their heads over whether they can (or even should) compete with their strengthening neighbors.”

Meanwhile, GMS points to the success of its Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Program (SSORP) which it says continues to surpass all of the requirements for the environmentally safe and responsible recycling of ships that are currently set by the Hong Kong Convention.

“SSORP has become a guardian that ensures compliance monitoring and auditing initiatives, a process that has been rigorously verified and endorsed by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA). As adherence to safety and environmental standards becomes increasingly vital – ship owners, ship recycling facilities, and a growing number of maritime stakeholders are increasingly leveraging the strengths of SSORP, underscoring their own collective allegiances to sustainability.”

Since its inception, SSORP has completed the successful recycling supervision and compliance monitoring of over 120 ships & offshore assets. It has also become the only choice for a growing number of prestigious maritime companies as over 30 ship and offshore owners have nominated SSORP as their only compliance monitoring partner, reports GMS.