An investigation of secondhand prices : a case of handymax dry bulk carriers

The behaviour of the secondhand values of ships in the sale and purchase market is a very interesting issue. Almost all existing research related to this issue is qualitative or theoretical. The conclusions have not been subject to empirical testing. In this thesis, the quantitative relationship between the secondhand values and the factors that affect the values significantly is examined for the particular case of handymax dry bulk carriers. A model is estimated to examine the effects of changes in newbuilding prices, the freight market and other market conditions on the secondhand values. The results obtained are very consistent with the most popular qualitative insertions. Through the selected log linear autoregression model, it is found that the secondhand values of the handymax bulk carriers are primarily related to endogenous market conditions within the handymax sector, such as freight rates, newbuilding prices and the age of handymax bulkers. The thesis is a new approach to the investigation of the ship market and freight market. It is of particular value to the participants in the ship sale and purchase market. The data used for the research are composed of about 3,064 observations of the sale and purchase transaction records for the past 10 years plus corresponding collection of other variables.Business, Sauder School ofGraduat