Will Nam Cheong’s vessel sales sink to crisis levels this year?

It needs buyers for 26 vessels.

Nam Cheong’s vessel sales are expected to slow down substantially this year, but DBS believes that it is unlikely to be as bad as the group’s dismal sales in 2009.

DBS noted that Nam Cheong still needs to sell eight vessels from its 2015 built-to-stock programme and 18 from its 2016 programme.

Unlike 2009 when Nam Cheong sold only 4 vessels, DBS believes that the situation will be marginally better this time around.

“The situation is primarily an oil price crisis and not a credit crunch issue. If requirements are there, customers can still access the credit markets for vessel loans. Thus, there is hope for order flows to
pick up by 2H15,” said DBS.