Have we hit bottom?

Danaos chief detects first signs that worst is over for box trades

PIRAEUS-based containership owner Danaos Corp has said it believes the worst of the container shipping crisis may have passed, although it admitted its perception of a possible nascent recovery “remains to be tested” and might not be evident in new chartering activity for months.

Personally, I find this hard to believe.

I am sure there has been an uptick lately since we are over the Chinese New Year and orders have started for the peak season in the U.S.

However, I doubt carriers are really making any money. Maybe we have hit bottom in terms of drop in cargo, but I don't think that will translate into earnings for a number of years.

Review of publically traded dry bulk carriers

Below is a list from Google Finance as of Dec. 5., for dry bulk carriers listed on either the NASDAQ OR NYSE.

Almost all of these companies were listed in the last 2 years, when the shipping market started to heat up.

Every single one of these companies is Greek.

Yes, they are listed on U.S. exchanges, but they are all headquartered in Greece. London has much more to do with the shipping industry. Logically these stocks should be listed there. That right there should be a tip off. These folks were not courting informed investors.

Diana Shipping is the best of the lot. It just suspended dividends in order to have some cash. Star Bulk just issued an alert to investors.

In my opinion, none of these companies will make it through the next year.
They will either go bankrupt, or be taken over. Whether or not the stockholders will get anything is questionable.

I really hope I'm wrong. I'll make a note to check back on these stocks in a few months.


Name Name Exchange Symbol Last Trade Change Mkt Cap

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. NASDAQ SBLK 1.80 -0.09 (-4.76%) 101.12M

Euroseas Ltd. NASDAQ ESEA 3.99 +0.19 (5.00%) 121.73M

DryShips Inc. NASDAQ DRYS 4.75 +0.56 (13.37%) 299.18M
(the link for DryShips is now directing to Cardiff Marine, a sister company - I smell a rat)

Paragon Shipping Inc. NASDAQ PRGN 3.85 +0.32 (9.07%) 104.48M

Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd NYSE EXM 3.70 -0.21 (-5.37%) 159.84M

Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. NYSE NM 2.15 +0.23 (11.98%) 216.76M

Safe Bulkers, Inc. NYSE SB 3.89 -0.09 (-2.26%) 212.01M

Diana Shipping Inc. NYSE DSX 8.09 +0.46 (6.03%) 607.56M

OceanFreight Inc. NASDAQ OCNF 2.94 -0.08 (-2.65%) 48.28M