Green Ship Advantage Called into Question

Papantonopoulos says Eco-tonnage could face the same problems Greenfield Shipyard projects did.

Despite many ship operators looking to introduce more fuel efficient, so-called "Green Ships" to their fleets, an analyst at Greek broker Intermodal has called into question the advantage of the newer vessels, according to comments reported by Asiasis.

Nikos Papantonopoulos says that the vessels could encounter a similar problem to that faced by Greenfield Shipyard projects a couple of years ago.

"We may have an end result similar to the green field extravaganza, where market conditions changed (market collapse of 2008) and left many of these fields forever green," suggested Papantonopoulos.

In September, a calculation by international shipping association Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) found the "Eco Ships" were worth a premium of 25 percent.

But Papantonopoulos says that, "taking into consideration the newbuilding prices for vessels and the fuel saving performance clause which is included in their charter parties, we conclude that we do not yet have a clear picture regarding this currently hot shipping debate."

"Parameters like bunker prices, evolution of ship designs, demand for MR tankers in general as well as the size of the eco fleet compared to the old conventional designs, are all going to influence the outcome of this equation," he added.

Last month, commodity trader and dry-bulk charterer Cargill Inc. who operates about 400 vessels, along with Huntsman Corp., and UNIPEC UK, who combined charter over 350 million tonnes of commodities annually, said they had all decided to charter only the most fuel-efficient "eco-friendly" ships, while private equity firm Vigor Capital said it was looking to invest in shipping, but only in "green ships."