Star Bulk shoots for more
Star Bulk's Spyros Capralos and Petros Pappas.
Nasdaq-listed Star Bulk today priced the sale of 49,000,418 shares at $5.00 each.
Its potential $245m pot exceeds the $200m outlined when the owner revealed the issue yesterday.
Ben Nolan of Stifel, said in a report today that the company will be left with $237.7m from the primary sale after costs.
He said: "While we feel the company has addressed its funding gap, any additional liquidity needs could be met through the sale of the company's older vessels that were built before 2000, which encompasses 13 vessels."
As TradeWinds reported last night, leading shareholders Oaktree Capital, Angelo Gordon, Monarch and Petros Pappas are buying into the sale.
The latest information is that they will collectively buy 37,250,418 shares, a bundle worth $186.25m. Previously they were set for a near $150m contribution.
Oaktree will remain the dominant shareholder in Star Bulk after the issue with a 58\% slice, the owner says. The two funds will have 5.9\% each and Pappas 7.8\%. These figures will be marginally trimmed should underwriters take their options.
The $200m initial target was suggested to have been sufficient to bridge the owner’s funding gap by Noah Parquette of Canaccord Genuity.
After two major deals last summer Star is one of the largest bulker names on Wall Street, with 102 vessels, including 34 under construction.
Jefferies and Morgan Stanley are the main underwriters of the issue.
Imabari plans mega-dockin race for jumbo boxships
Ambitious Japanese group Imabari Shipbuilding is set to construct a new drydock at its Marugame facility that will target the emerging market for ultra large containerships (ULCs).
It will be Imabari’s first new dock since it completed its Saijo yard in 2010. The move comes on the back of an improved trading market for Japanese yards (see page 48).
Imabari president Yukito Higaki first mentioned the new facility in his New Year address. “We are making progress on the plan to construct a large-scale facility at the Marugame yard,” he confirmed.
It is understood land has been secured for the project, which will be purpose built to compete with Asian rivals for ULCs.
Higaki-family owned Imabari is said to have secured orders for up to six 20,500-teu newbuildings, including options, from sister company Shoei Kisen.
Shoei is one of the two shipping companies that won a Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL)’s charter tender for ULCs. The other is Costamare of Greece (See Boxships, page 29).
Market players say plans for the new drydock has been in the pipeline for some time.
“Imabari has several yards under its wing but many are small and not efficient and productive,” said one source. “The construction of mega-containerships has been dominated by the Koreans and to be competitive, Imabari will need a new facility to be in the game. It probably believes that it can catch up with the Koreans very quickly and overtake them.”
The size of the dock has not been disclosed and company officials could provide no further details. But sources suggest it should be ready from 2016, as MOL is looking to take delivery of the 20,500-teu vessels during the first half of 2017.
Marugame currently has a 270-metre dock and is used to build aframax tankers, car carriers and post-panamax bulkers.
“We see it as a positive move made by Imabari in promoting Japanese shipbuilding,” said another market observer. “With the new facility, it can expand the types of vessel it can construct and be able it to achieve better efficiency and productivity, as the dock will be equipped with new technology and know-how.”
Imabari has been one of the country’s most progressive yards in recent years, having broken into the LNG carrier market and now the ULC space.
In his New Year speech, Higaki emphasised the group’s growth plans. He pointed out that Imabari had a successful year producing ships and winning new contracts, as well as expanding.
The group delivered 94 vessels totalling 4.3 million gross tons (gt) last year. It made its big-boxship debut in 2013 after winning an order for five 14,000-teu vessels from K Line. The owner has now doubled the tally of newbuildings to 10.
Some market pundits believe Imabari will shift some of those ships from its Hiroshima yard to Marugame.
Imabari fully integrated Koyo Dockyard under its direct management last year. It also took over Tsuneishi Shipbuilding’s Tadotsu facility and will manage the yard from this year.
The company was founded in 1905 and started off constructing wooden vessels. Today, it has nine yards under its control, of which Saijo is the showcase. It is said to be the first yard in the world to have installed three giant goliath cranes on a single drydock to increase productivity and efficiency.
source:www.tradewindsnews.com
Dorian wins financing package for VLGC newbuildings
A Dorian LPG newbuilding is launched at Hyundai Heavy.
Dorian LPG is understood to be closing in on bank financing for its vast very large gas carrier (VLGC) newbuilding programme after securing export credit backing over Christmas.
A consortium of at least three European banks has stepped up with a package for the world’s second largest VLCG player, well-placed sources indicate.
Dorian has previously stated its confidence in finding money for a newbuilding programme worth $1.36bn.
The first part of the package being organised by Citi was secured over the festive break with Korea Export-Import Bank (Kexim Bank) and the Korean Trade Insurance Corp (K-Sure) providing the company with its first export credit backing.
Kexim is providing $400m and K-Sure a further $100m, with final terms likely to be in place in February
This will soon be followed by bank debt, with ABN Amro and ING believed to be part of the consortium alongside at least one other European lender that has yet to be identified.
Sources close to the deal confirm a loan will soon be secured but the terms have not yet emerged.
As TradeWinds reported in November, Dorian was confident of securing the $750m funding required for the ships, despite some concerns in the market at that stage.
“We didn’t need the money until now and we don’t need it until the first quarter,” said chief executive John Hadjipateras on the company’s third quarter conference call.
“We feel we can take the time to negotiate the best structure that’s out there. We have agreed to terms with the commercial banks and we’re in discussion with the export agency in Korea.”
Dorian has a fleet of six VLGCs on the water following the delivery of the 84,000-cmb Corvette from Hyundai Heavy Industries in the first week of the New Year. Four are trading in the strong spot market. It has 16 further newbuildings under construction.
Despite market fears that the size of the VLGC orderbook was deterring some banks, loans are clearly there for owners in the sector.
As TradeWinds online reported this week, Oslo-listed Avance Gas has completed the funding of its own newbuilding programme.
Nordea, DNB, Danske Bank, ABN Amro and KfW IPEX-Bank stepped up with a$200m facility to pay for the final four ships in its series at Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry.
Baltic Trading lands loan
In a statement the New York-quoted operator said the $148m senior secured credit facility is backed by Nordea Bank Finland and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.
Baltic noted the five-year package includes a $115m revolving credit facility and a term loan to the tune of $33m.
The owner claims the revolver will be used to refinance an existing facility that was scheduled to mature in 2016.
Baltic intends to apply proceeds from the loan towards a pair of bulkers that are due for delivery in the second and third quarters of this year.
“The five-year $148m senior secured credit facility will bear interest at LIBOR plus a margin of 3.00\%,” the operator added.
Baltic Trading, which is an affiliate of Genco Shipping & Trading, is based in Manhattan where it oversees a fleet of 15 bulkers.
Upon delivery of its newbuildings the tally will stand at 17 ships with a combined carrying capacity of roughly 1,351,000 dwt.
source:www.tradewindsnews.com
Cosco offloads 17
China's Cosco sells 13 bulkers and four containerships
Between September and December, the state shipowner has sent four boxships and 13 bulkers to the breakers’ yards for CNY 318.2m ($51.2m).
The vessels totalled 919,853 dwt in capacity.
Realised losses from this move amounted to around CNY 124m.
But the Chinese state offers subsidies to companies that send their old tonnage for scrapping as long as new vessels are ordered.
Cosco received almost CNY 1.4bn to the end of September as compensation for its modernisation programme.
With the latest disposal, the number of demolished ships for 2014 is 56.
According to VesselsValue.com, the Chinese shipowner has 36 bulkers and 10 boxships on order, due for delivery by 2018.
Cosco said the average age of its fleet has been decreased and oil consumption has been reduced as a result of the vessels' disposal.
source:www.tradewindsnews.com
Genco and Clipper form pool
Peter Georgiopoulos
Genco will contribute half of the 16 vessels in the initial fleet of the Clipper Sapphire Pool, the Danish owner said.
Gary Vogel, chief executive of Clipper, said: “We are pleased to continue to grow our pool management business which now carries a 20 year track record of performance.
“We are strong advocates of pooling, not only from a manager’s perspective, but from that of an owner, as we directly reap the benefits of efficiencies and economies of scale alongside the other pool members.”
It marks the second co-operation between Georgiopoulos and Clipper, with Baltic Trading a founder member of the handysize Clipper Logger Pool established in 2013.
John Wobensmith, president of Genco, said today: “We have been very pleased with our participation in the Clipper Logger Pool, so it was a logical decision to extend our relationship into the supramax space as well.”
The 58,000-dwt Genco Pyrenees (built 2010) is the first Georgiopoulos vessel in the pool and efforts are underway to recruit new members.
Discussions are also taking place regarding the founding of an ultramax pool for new vessels of 63,000-dwt plus, Clipper said.
The move comes with supramax rates at basement levels after a terrible fourth quarter of 2014 for the dry cargo market.
Supramaxes are presently trading at around $9,000 daily in the spot market, down from $13,000 per day at this stage a year ago, Clarksons Capital Markets says.
source:www.tradewindsnews.com
Libya sorry for attack
Military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mesmari was cited by the Irish Examiner as saying the attack took place before the government learned the 26,000-dwt Araevo (built 1991) was delivering fuel to a power station in Derna for the country's National Oil Corporation (NOC).
"We had no information. We treated it as a dangerous and suspicious target that threatens national security. We regret the loss of lives."
And he told the BBC that the Aegean Oil tanker's movements at the port of Derna had aroused suspicion.
NOC rejected this, saying the ship was delivering fuel to industrial facilities there and the authorities had been kept informed.
Derna has been controlled by Islamist militants for the past two years.
NOC added the tanker had picked up 13,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil in Brega, a port south of Libya's second city, Benghazi, which it was due to deliver to a power plant and water purification facility in Derna.
It said the vessel was attacked on Sunday before it could enter the port to unload its cargo.
TradeWinds reported the vessel was bombed as it lay at anchor.
The Liberian-flagged Araevo had 26 crew on board, including 21 Filipinos, three Greeks and two Romanians. One of the crew who lost his life was Greek and the other Romanian.
Two more seafarers were injured in the incident.
Greece lodged a formal complaint with Libyan authorities, demanding that the perpetrators be found, punished and that compensation be paid to the victims’ families.
source.www.tradewindsnews.com
Fredriksen in capesize coup
John Fredriksen and Herman Billung
The deal is said to be concluded with the German energy firm RWE and will run for three to five years.
Herman Billung, chief executive of Golden Ocean, declined to comment when contacted by TradeWinds.
The structure of the deal means the newbuildings will be taken by RWE on spot market related terms, plus 20\%, TradeWinds understands.
Sources say this is a firm rate given today's spot market which is running at less than $5,000 per day.
Fredriksen is in the process of merging his two bulker owning companies, Golden Ocean and Knightsbridge Shipping, which will create a fleet of72 bulkers – half of which are newbuildings, including 46 capesizes.
AUS academic wins Excellent Paper Award at IAME Conference
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| Dr. Ilias Visvikis |
The study examines economic information transmission between key commodity and maritime markets using a dynamic factor model, offering important insights that can be utilized as a leading indicator in facilitating decision making for charterers, commodity houses and ship owners.
Dr. Jan Hoffmann, IAME President, commented:
“The new prize—only established last year, to commemorate our 25th anniversary—is a fitting way to acknowledge this outstanding research. Having received the highest marks from independent peer reviewers, and having applied a novel research approach, the findings on ‘Economic Information Discovery across Commodity Markets’ surely merit this recognition.”
Speaking about the achievement, Dr. Visvikis said:
“We are delighted to have won this prestigious award, and we are grateful for the recognition of our work by the IAME. The award reflects the direction AUS is taking and its role in shaping the research agenda in international forums. The study is the result of an excellent collaboration among prominent academics in the field and contributes significantly in the area of international commodity trade and transport.”
The award, which is IAME’s 25th anniversary commemoration prize, was established last year at the organization’s 25th conference held in Kyoto, Japan. The IAME Kyoto Conference Excellent Paper Award, as it is officially known, is sponsored by the Graduate School of Management of Kyoto University. It is awarded to the conference paper that has received one of the highest scores in the review process and has an important academic or practical contribution.
www.aus.edu
IAME elects President and Council for 2018-2020
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