By Antonis Tsimplakis

 

Alexander Karalis Koerbel, broker in Optima Shipping Services, told "Naftemporiki" that Greek shipowners strengthened their fleets with 194 bulkers and tankers in the 12-month period of 2023.

 

In 2023, the Greek shipowners purchased bulk carriers and sold tankers, as part of their strategy to renew their fleets.

 

Their strategy was mainly focused on selling older tonnage and replacing it with new and modern ships.

 

This is confirmed, after all, by the spectacular increase in orders for new ships signed last year.

 

The numbers also indicate the different tactics of the Greeks in each of the two markets.

 

On the one hand, they prefer used ships to new ships in dry cargo, as the orderbook is still low and the “green” transition is a more complex and gradual process.

 

On the other hand, in liquid cargo, the positive long-term outlook urged them to build more ships, while the momentum of high values, also favored sales.

 

Sales-Purchases Agreements

 

Alexander Karalis Koerbel, told “Naftemporiki” that Greek shipowners strengthened their fleets with 194 bulkers and tankers in the 12-month period of 2023.

 

Domestic shipping companies’ deals are down about 17% year-on-year, which is attributed to significantly fewer tanker purchases.

 

However, the Greeks closed the balance of purchases/sales with a positive sign, reversing the trend of the first half of last year.

 

This is attributed to the fact that in the period January-December 2023 they sold a total of 173 ships, the vast majority of which are of course tankers.

 

It is noted that until last June, the sales of the Greek shipping companies significantly exceeded the purchases, but then they changed course and increased the speed of deals.

 

Bulk Carriers

 

Looking at each purchase separately, Greek shipowners acquired a total of 152 dry bulk vessels last year, accounting for 23% of the activity internationally.

 

In particular, 661 bulk carriers “changed hands” globally in 2023. Greek truck purchases rose 4.1% compared to 2022. It is noted that Greek shipowners sold 59 trucks during the period under review.

 

In terms of purchases, the main focus of Greek companies was handysize bulkers with agreements for 46 vessels, followed by panamaxes/kamsarmaxes with 43.

 

At the same time, they strengthened their fleets with 27 capes, but also 23 ultramaxes and 13 supramaxes.

 

On the other hand, they sold 19 panamaxes/kamsarmaxes, 15 supramaxes, 12 handysize bulkers, 9 capes and 4 ultramaxes.

 

According to a recent research by “Naftemporiki”, Greek shipowners ordered 90 bulkers in 2023, compared to 40 in 2022 (+125%).

 

Tankers

 

In the tanker sector, Greek shipowners bought a total of 42 ships and sold 114. The Greeks carried out massive sales of mainly older tonnage, taking advantage of the spectacular rise in market values.

 

It is indicative that the 114 sales correspond to 22.4% of the tankers that changed “hands” internationally in the market, 509 in number.

 

However, companies slowed purchases significantly, with last year’s deals down 67% year-on-year.

 

Of course, Greek shipowners turned last year mainly to shipbuilding to strengthen their fleets. From January to December 2023, they signed deals for 123 newbuild tankers, compared to just 37 in 2022.

 

Moreover, they bought 14 MR2 tankers, 11 MR1 tankers, 6 panamax/LR1 tankers, 6 aframax/LR2 tankers, 4 suezmaxes and just 1 super tanker (VLCC).

 

Although more balanced, the sales of Greek shipowners were mainly focused on small and medium sizes.

 

The lion’s share was held by MR2 tankers and aframaxes/LR2 tankers with 30 deals in each market.At the same time, they sold 21 panamaxes/LR1 tankers, 14 VLCCs, 8 MR1 tankers and 8 suezmaxes.

 

Greek deals dominate the New York stock exchange

 

Greece dominated in the major shipping big deals of the US stock markets in 2023

 

Acquisitions and mergers, new companies but also purchases of fleets as well as shares, which attracted the investment interest, had the “flavor” of Greece. The announcement of Star Bulk Carriers to acquire Eagle Bulk stands out, which is perhaps the deal of the year as well as the acquisition of Navios Holdings by N Logistics Holdings.

 

At the same time, GasLog Partners was acquired by GasLog and exited the US stock market, while Capital Product Partners is developing into a company with LNG carriers by purchasing 11 newbuilds from the parent company of the group.

 

Meanwhile, George Economou bought percentages that do not exceed 10% in four listed shipping companies.

 

On his part, Haris Vafias listed a third company on the US stock exchange, C3is Inc, while the stock of Okeanis Eco of the Alafouzos family is now traded on Wall Street.

 

The deal of the year

 

At the beginning of December, Star Bulk announced perhaps the biggest deal of the year. Star Bulk absorbed Eagle Bulk Shipping. The new company will have a fleet of 169 ships, while the total capitalization of the two companies on the day of the agreement was 2.1 billion dollars.

 

Merge into Navios

 

At the same time, Navios Maritime Holdings and N Logistics Holdings Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the Logistics company will acquire all the common stock of Holdings for 2.28 dollars per share in cash. The price of 2.28 dollars per share represents a premium of approximately 43% over the closing price of the company’s common stock on September 12, 2023.

 

Capital: Transformation

 

Capital Product Partners found itself on a new trajectory shortly before the “dawn” of 2024, concluding two agreements that completely transformed its corporate profile.

 

On December 21, the listed shipping company completed the first part of its transformation into an exclusive “player” in the market of LNG carriers, acquiring from the unlisted company of the Capital Maritime group 11 newly built ships, for a total price of 3.13 billion dollars. Thus, it creates a fleet of 18 LNG carriers.

 

Based on an agreement, the shipping company will examine the possibility of disinvestment from containerships, ships which have occupied the largest share of its fleet until now.

 

Economou Investments

 

Greek shipowner George Economou returned to the US stock market after four years, when the share of DryShips was delisted from it, acquiring shares in domestic and unlisted shipping companies. Vafias: New listing

 

A pioneer in the creation of spin-off companies, the Greek shipowner Haris Vafias launched in 2023 another entity with an initial focus on bulk carriers and later diversification into tankers. This is C3is Inc., which was announced on April 12 as a spin-off of Imperial Petroleum, a company that emerged from the spin-off of activities from StealthGas. The shares of C3is Inc. began trading on the Nasdaq index on June 22.

 

Okeanis on a US route

 

On December 11, 2023, the shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

At the same time, it changed its listing status on the Oslo Stock Exchange from primary to secondary listing.