There’s something amiss in the secondhand markets, something that rarely happens – a convergence of rising freight rates and declining secondhand values over the past year especially in the dry bulk sector. Bulker sale and purchase transactions have fallen once again, down by 34% year-on-year from 68 in July 2024 to 45 in July 2025, according to VesselsValue. Rising rates and declining secondhand values have seen opportunistic Greek owners come to the fore with Xclusiv Shipbrokers registering a 25% increase in Greek acquisition activity this month. Among key dry bulk transactions, the 14-year-old, Chinese-built Pacific North was sold to Greek buyers for $25.3m while the 2012-built White Whale panamax, built at Hudong-Zhonghua, was snapped up by another Greek owner for $12.75m. Tanker sales have fallen in July when compared to the same period last year with 27 sales reported in July 2025, compared to 41 in July 2024, according to VesselsValue who suggest this is likely due to limited quality tonnage availability as owners hold on to assets amid stable earnings and future market uncertainty. Vintage product tankers continue to change hands, as asset values have dropped significantly enough to entice buyers, according to Gibson. The Pan Ocean owned Grand Ace 1, built in 2006, was sold for $11m. 15 months ago, the same aged sister ship Grand Ace 5 went for $21m, hence why we are seeing traditional shipowners looking to take positions at these lower levels. Among deals making headlines this month, the 21-year-old City of Tokyo VLCC, built at Universal, was sold for a very punchy $41.5m. It has been a quiet month for container S&P activity, down 35% year-over year, but don’t be fooled by the slowdown. “Demand for tonnage continues to outweigh supply following several high prices paid for secondhand units in July supported by stable to firm rates concluding in the charter market,” VesselsValue noted in a markets update. The 15-year-old, Japanese-built, 8,540 teu Hakata Seoul was sold for a firm $75m to super acquisitive MSC, while Global Feeder Shipping shelled out $20m for the 17-year-old, 1,740 teu Hansa Bitburg. TagsSplash Extra July 2025