Bullish recycling yards in Bangladesh shelled out more than $600 per ldt for several unnamed ships last week in a market where tonnage supply is tight in the run-up to the Eid holiday.

Spain has acceded to the IMO treaty Hong Kong Convention on ship recycling which remains short of the required levels of ratification to come into force.

Shipowners’ recycling options have narrowed dramatically over the last two weeks as the Indian market is now virtually closed for new business and the impact of Covid-19 is increasingly evident in other recycling centres.

Mainstream ship recycling yards on the Indian subcontinent have hiked their prices during the first two weeks of November, and there are signs that the $400 per light displacement ton (ldt) watershed could soon be breached.

The new green recycling facility proposed for Saldanha Bay in South Africa may give owners another option sometime in the future, but for the moment, recycling end-of life ships in today’s multi-tier market is a major headache for ship operators.

European Union ship recycling regulations are limiting shipowners’ recycling options, particularly for large vessels, according to GMS, the world’s largest cash buyer of end-of-life vessels.

Exploratory discussions on new deals are providing early indications that recycling markets in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey could reopen for business soon, perhaps even by June.

Dry bulk shipping is “very close” to seeing a supply and demand balance and an improved outlook is expected in the second half of this year and into 2021.

The start of Ramadan last Thursday will not make much difference this year to recycling markets in countries which celebrate the religious month since ship recyclers remain in lockdown with little sign of any change until well into May at the...

Verifavia Shipping has partnered with OSM Maritime Group to provide Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) services, bringing the total number of vessels under IHM contract with Verifavia to more than 550.