Stocks that Float: TANKERS & DRY BULK SHIPPERS

[Milner]

More newbuilding cancellations on the road, as ship owners look for some "damage control"
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Another Hellenic shipping company, this time from the private ones, Costamare Shipping, owned by Cpt. Vassilis Konstantakopoulos, moved forward with its plans to axe part of its new building programme. Costamare, one of the most reknowned companies of the container shippping sector, which has been hit even worse than dry bulk shipping by the recent financial crisis, is set to cancel new building orders for three containerships. The order had been placed with China’s Hudong and was of an estimated value of $480 million. It involved the building of four containerships of 4,800-TEUs each. If the report is confirmed three out of four vessels won’t reach the sea, at least for Costamare. As for the remaining vessel it will be built with a nine-month delay, which will bring its scheduled delivery at the beginning of 2010. One of the reasons for this delay could be the fact that Costamare hasn’t yet managed to secure the ship’s employment with any charterer. Of course, Costamare still remains the largest Hellas-based shipping company of the container sector, controlling a fleet of about 60 vessels.
The Constantakopoulos family is also involved in one of the country’s biggest tourism developments which are currently underway. The project is ran by TEMES, an affiliated entity, and involves the development of four large plots in the region of Messinia, the family’s homeland. It will include a number of golf courses, luxurious hotels, housing, marinas and related amenities.
Besides Costamare, a number of Hellenic shipping companies have already announced plans to axe part of their new building programmes, with most of them being publicly-traded like Navios Maritime of Angeliki Fragou, Stealthgas of Harry Vafias and Genco Shipping of Mr. Peter Georgiopoulos. Among the private ones one can include Metrostar of Theodore Angelopoulos, Target Marine of Mr. Komninos and Brave Maritime of the Vafias family.

Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News