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Cash, Coal, and Corporations

“Wind is caused by the trees waving their branches.”

-Ogden Nash

The Nuances of Financing

While corporate lenders, shippers, and charterers are moving towards more eco-friendly operations, problems with green financing are growing. Stricter lending requirements are going into effect faster than owners can produce their long-term compliance plans. Banks do not want to end up with loans on stranded assets that can no longer earn money to pay their debt. A vessel with a low level of compliance becomes essentially unemployable.

From the owners’ perspective, producing a long-term compliance plan isn’t as easy as it may sound. The advancements toward reducing GHG to acceptable limits are numerous and cover all types of designs and outfitting for both new construction and retrofitting. Most of these advancements are still in the research and development or early on-board testing stages, so the actual future fuel savings are still unknown. Owners lack firm statistics to present to lenders.  

All parties, from owners to the IMO, need to agree on the same methods of measuring fuel savings. This goes for all types of vessel designs and their cargo runs.  Owners would stand to benefit by sharing their fuel saving data so that it can be assembled, organized, understood, and disseminated. Fortunately, this movement to cooperate has already started. There are groups working to make collected data valuable for everyone, be they the IMO, class societies, charterers, lenders, or even owners.

European banks, previously the backbone of ship financing, now account for less than 50% of world lending sources. Funding now comes primarily from leasing companies, public markets/investors, alternative lending, and private equity. This becomes interesting as some of these lenders employ investment strategies with only short-term interests in projects. The biggest lending growth has been in Asia and Australia.

Gathering Data

Clarksons, a well-known fount of maritime intelligence and statistics, has done a large upgrade for their individual vessel pages with a new section covering the vessels’ status in IMO compliance. Information can be found on ballast water treatment systems, if scrubbers are installed, fuel type(s), EEDI, and theoretical EEXI and CII. Some of the sections are built into the database but remain blank. As I noted above, the information and ways to gather the information are still at a formative stage.

Demand For Emission Compliant Ships

As the July 21st publication of Splash247.com said, “Already, low-performing ships are rapidly losing their social license to operate as charterers steer clear. Now, they could lose their physical right with nation-states tightening the rules.”

A new company called FUTURESHIPS has started up in Hong Kong and London to handle brokerage for vessels that are at acceptable to high levels of emissions compliance. They will be doing cargo brokerage, chartering, and S&P starting with dry bulk carriers. FUTURESHIPS hopes to be the premier one-stop destination for those who want to or need to employ IMO emission compliant ships.

Domestically, we are also seeing the demand increase for clean vessels. Some , such as California, have their own compliance requirements in place. Domestic ports and charterers are already focused on hiring low emission vessels to comply with their in-house GHG reduction requirements. There is also the thought that by chartering someone else’s clean vessels, the charterer may be able to get credits to offset the not-so-clean entities in their fleet.

Back on the River

The demand for covered hopper barges should increase as corn production ramped up over 2022 into 2023. This growth is projected to create a net increase in exports of 4.3 million metric tonnes which is based on an estimate of per acre yield with some crop condition assumptions. With the weather seen in 2022 and so far in 2023, the threat of drought or floods still exists. The USDA has already made a small reduction for projected 2023/2024 yield in anticipation of drought. Note, the export total encompasses all crops produced, not just those transported by inland river barges.  

Grain loading in hold of bulk carrier ship, Adobe stock image

As mentioned in my last blog, coal exports for the first quarter of 2023 increased 17.2% from the 4th quarter of 2022. Both steam coal and metallurgical coal shared the rise. Over the past two years, the U.S. exported around 15% of its coal production while importing about 1%. The imported coal is usually based on it being favorably priced or of a particular type not available in the U.S. In my sailing days, we would load steel in New Orleans for Europe and in Europe load different type steel to bring back to the States.

 

There are 25 ports that export coal in the U.S. Only seven of these ports are geographically positioned to receive this coal via the inland river system.  

 

The country in each region that primarily received U.S. coal exports in the first quarter of 2023 were as follows. This is based on U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) statistics.

 

REGION:  COUNTRY/  AMOUNT EXPORTED

North America: Canada/ Down from 4th QTR 2022

South America: Brazil/ Up from 4th QTR 2022

Europe: Netherlands/ Down from 4th QTR 2022

Asia:  India/  Up from 4th QTR 2022

Africa: Egypt/ Up from 4th QTR 2022

 

Governmental data reports from the energy sector showed that in the first half of 2023, the delivery of tank barges increased over that of 2022. For the first six months of 2023, there were eighteen tank barges delivered:  eleven 10,000-bbl chem type barges, six 30,000-bbl barges, and one pressure barge. All the seventeen liquid barges were for clean products.

 

Prices on hopper and tank barges have just about plateaued. Steel prices have dropped yet the increasing costs of labor, training, and lending remain. Since prices fluctuate, DLS Marine frequently seeks out new construction costs from dry cargo and tank barge builders.

 

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD)

As GLDD is a publicly traded company, their financials are published and interesting to follow. GLDD reported a loss in 2022 with much of this attributed to COVID 19 which caused the U.S. Corp of Engineers to delay publishing their bid packages. These bid requests finally started coming out in Q1 of 2023.

 

Most dredging work is done through bidding processes using fixed bids, similar to shipyards. This can lead to cost overruns due to weather, inflation, and labor shortages (much of GLDD’s labor is unionized). Recently, they won the bid for a substantial Corpus Christi port project, among the largest projects they have ever won. Other financial setbacks for GLDD included poor weather (project areas impacted by hurricanes), and damage to their dredge, TERRAPIN ISLAND, a 1981, 337′ trailing arm split hopper dredge which sustained a catastrophic failure to its Alco engine. The vessel was scrapped, with an asset loss of $7 MM.

 

For the year 2022, GLDD’s annual report attributed 53% of its income to domestic capex projects. These are new expansions mostly of port and harbor facilities. Coastal protection made necessary by hurricanes and rising water levels comprised 30% of income. Maintenance of existing waterways, ports, and harbors was 15% of income. Inland rivers and lakes projects, often working in competition with portable dredge competitors, was 2%, while the final 1% was to foreign work.

 

Promising news for GLDD, both capex and maintenance work are expected to grow in 2023-2024 due to the release of federal funds via the new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). It will take time for some of these projects to get through the bidding process. Port authorities are also investing in capex work to make their docks, ports, and port access waterways accessible for larger vessels in the future. For this type of work, GLDD stated they had three competitors. They were not named in the annual report, though I believe they are likely Weeks, Manson, and Dutra. Back in 2020, 79% of GLDD’s work was on federal projects. That dropped to 78% in 2021 and 67% in 2022. The company reported that they believe things will improve by the end of 2023 and in 2024 due in large part to the WRDA.

 

GLDD’s fleet consists of over 100 vessels with an average age of 26 years. Their hydraulic dredges are an average of forty-four years old, while their hoppers average an age of twenty-seven. These asset ages are in line with their competitors. The larger dredges and hoppers are quite expensive to replace, so it is common for these vessels to undergo life extension work. GLDD has still built several new dredges in the past few years, as have their competitors.

 

GLDD is expanding into the offshore wind market as they build the first Jones Act inclined pipe vessel for subsea rock installation. This vessel is slated for a 2025 delivery at a cost of $197 MM. This vessel is used to place heavy rock around the base of wind turbine foundations to prevent bottom erosion and has already obtained a contract for the wind farm offshore of New York./  

A European self-propelled trailing arm suction dredge performing beach remediation in a process called rainbowing

The maritime market is in a transition period. Tugs are working towards emissions compliance to meet the demands of lenders. Cargo imports and exports on the river continue to shift to meet consumer demand. Many companies, like GLDD, experienced losses in revenue but are optimistic that there’s a turnaround on the horizon

-Norman Laskay

If you’d like to keep this conversation going, please email me at nlaskay@DLSmarine.com

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Anthony J. “Tony” Anselmi - Hull & Machinery Surveyor - DLS Marine

Anthony J. “Tony” Anselmi

Hull & Machinery Surveyor

Areas of Expertise:

  • Hull and Machinery
  • Damage Surveys
  • Condition Surveys
  • Trip in Tow/Trip Under Own Power Suitability Surveys
  • On/Off Charter Surveys

Education:

  • B.A. – Political Science – Nicholls State University
  • NAMS Certified Marine Surveyor
  • USPAP and ME 201 – American Society of Appraisers

Background:

Anthony started his maritime career on shrimp trawling vessel working with his grandfather at the age 15. While studying at Nicholls State University, Anthony worked for Danos & Curole during the summers and breaks as a rigger/roustabout working at shoreside facilities between Galliano and Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Anthony joined DLS in May 2024. Anthony brings seventeen years of marine surveying experience working on a variety of inland and offshore vessels/barges and is a Certified Marine Surveyor with the National Association of Marine Surveyors. Anthony is based in Louisiana and accepts assignments in hull and machinery damage surveys, condition surveys for financial, insurance and pre-purchase purposes, on/off hire surveys, trip in tow/trip under own power surveys, damage claims review, and salvage monitoring.
tanselmi@dlsmarine.com
Matt McDaniel DLS Marine Survey and Appraisal

Matt McDaniel

Hull & Machinery Surveyor

Areas of Expertise:

  • Hull and Machinery
  • Damage Assessment and Repairs
  • Condition
  • Inspections
  • Project Management

Memberships / Professional Certification:

  • NAMS-CMS

Background:

Matt began marine surveying in 2014 and has experience with damage causation, reviewing transit plans, new construction, cargo transfers, salvage operations, on/off charters, and general condition surveys. He joined the Hull & Machinery department at DLS in 2019.

mmcdaniel@dlsmarine.com
Charles Sterling - DLS - UAV Supervisor | Digital Inspection Manager

Charles Sterling

UAV Supervisor | Digital Inspection Manager

Areas of Expertise:

  • Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles & ROV’s
  • Digital Inspections
  • Computer Technology

Professional Certifications:

  • AS, Computer Information Systems
  • BS, Information Technology
  • FLIR Infrared Training Institute

Certified Specialist in Caterpillar diesel engines to include:

  • CFR Part 107
  • Level 1 sUAS Thermographer
  • Microsoft Certified System Engineer

Background:

Charles joined the firm in 2024, after managing an enterprise drone service provider based in New Orleans. He also teaches basic and advanced UAV class at Delgado Community College. Charles has extensive experience planning, flying complex missions in the Industrial, Chemical and Oil & Gas industries.

csterling@dlsmarine.com

Ave P. Boudreaux

Marine Surveyor

Areas of Expertise:

  • Hull and Machinery
  • Project Management Supervisor (QC) – overseen numerous construction and delivery schedules for vessels
  • Extensive knowledge of U.S. Coast Guard and ABS rules and regulations for vessel construction and repair

Education:

  • Rolls-Royce Z-Drive Failure Analysis Seminar
  • Flex-Core and Aluminum Welding Course
  • Extensive training in engine, gear, and shaft alignment
  • Extensive training in vessel repair and new construction

Memberships / Professional Certification:

  • NAMS-CMS

Background:

Mr. Boudreaux has 15 years experience with offshore supply vessels, crewboats, and anchor handling tugs. During this time, he served 8 years in vessel repair and new construction, 3 years in vessel operation and logistics, and 4 years as a vessel port captain.

Mr. Boudreaux served over 3 years as a marine surveyor performing numerous types of surveys in the marine industry prior to joining DLS.

 aboudreaux@dlsmarine.com

Norm Laskay - DLS Marine Valuation

Norman F. Laskay

Of Counsel

Mr. Laskay joined Stickney, Dufour & Associates, Inc. in 1988 as a partner. He is now of Counsel. He became a Marine Surveyor in 1974, having gained prior experience in steamship agency, bulk cargo handling and vessel operations. He has been involved in many aspects of marine surveying including hull, machinery and cargo, both inland and ocean. Since becoming an Accredited Senior Appraiser of commercial marine equipment, he has been active with the American Society of Appraisers’ International Machinery and Technical Specialties Committee. He has written a comprehensive exam for the Commercial Marine Appraisal specialty and has written a 30-hour course for the American Society of Appraisers on appraising commercial marine vessels and yachts and is the lead instructor.

Areas of Expertise:

  • Commercial Marine Appraisal
  • Hull Damage and Repair
  • Cargo Loading, Securing and Trip in Tow Preparation

Education:

  • Maine Maritime Academy Graduate
    B.S. in Marine Transportation
  • Continuing education credits in Law, Appraisal, Marine Survey, and Diesel Repair.

Professional Certification/Memberships:

  • NAMS Regional Board of Directors Member 1989-1994
  • American Society of Appraisers – Chapter Treasurer 1991-1994
  • American Society of Appraisers – Chapter President 1994-1995
  • Mark Twain Club (Charter Member)
  • Machinery and Technical Specialties International Committee 1995-Present

Publications

  • The Journal of the International Machinery & Technical Specialties Committee of the American Society of Appraisers “TUGBOAT DESIGN 101” Vol 13 No. 2 Fall 1996
  • The Journal of the International Machinery & Technical Specialties Committee of the American Society of Appraisers “KEEPING AN EYE ON YOUR MARINE ASSET” Vol 13 No. 3 Winter 1996
  • Marine Money, The Ship Finance Publication of Record “ASSET BASED APPRAISAL:, Vol. 21, No. 3, May/June 2006 Wrote the chapter on Marine Asset Appraisal for the American Society of Appraisers text book: “VALUING MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF APPRAISING MACHINERY AND TECHNICAL ASSETS” Second Edition. In 2008, revised the chapter for the future Third Edition and wrote an accompanying Work Book section.

Email: nlaskay@dlsmarine.com

  

Harry Ward President DLS Marine

Harry Ward

President

Harry Ward is the President of Dufour, Laskay & Strouse, Inc. Harry is a US Navy veteran and has spent much of the past decade in the maritime industry in sales, finance and general management. He has extensive experience in asset and business valuation and is working to maintain DLS leadership in marine appraisal and survey for another 50 years. Harry is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and served as a helicopter pilot and survival instructor through multiple tours of duty. He has an MBA from San Diego State University.

Areas of Expertise:

  • Fleet and Vessel Appraisals
  • Marine Business Valuation
  • Transaction Support – Due Diligence
  • Transaction Support – Marine M&A Advisory
  • Digital Inspection – Marine and Offshore Wind

Education:

  • U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD – 1991, Bachelor of Science
  • San Diego State University, San Diego, CA – 1999, MBA with emphasis in Finance

Licenses and Professional Associations

  • FINRA Licenses, Series 63 and 79 (Investment Banking)
  • American Society of Appraisers, AM
  • Certified Exit Planning Advisor, CEPA (Business value assessment and strategy development