The 35th Reportage: Japanese Shipowners　第35回ルポルタージュ・日本船主

Surging secondhand ship prices leave Japanese owners conflicted over European operators’ exercise of POs

中古船価格急騰、欧州オペのPO行使に複雑な心境

　A Japanese shipowner in the Chugoku region expressed mixed feelings during an online interview on the afternoon of 7 August.

　”Given current secondhand ship prices, it is only natural that European operators and Greek shipowners exercise the purchase options (POs) included in the BBC (bareboat charter) contracts they have with us. However, when we compare the price we receive upon exercise of the PO with current secondhand ship prices, we could sell the vessel for several times more on the secondhand market,” said the president of a Japanese shipowning company in the Chugoku region.

　It is understandable that the Japanese shipowner’s president who spoke to us should lament the situation. Yet it is equally understandable that European operators calmly point out that this is simply the nature of a PO.

■The full article covers the following points (approximately 2,000 Japanese characters)

→As secondhand ship prices surge, Japanese shipowners have mixed feelings over POs (purchase options) included in BBC contracts

→”The focus should not be on the exercise of the PO itself, but on the reality that the contract contains a PO,” says a broker at a foreign shipbroking firm

→The setting of a PO price can also serve as a form of collateral supporting ship finance by regional banks

→More Japanese shipowners are turning to bareboat charters amid rising shipmanagement risks

→The article explores Japanese shipowners’ views and the contractual background surrounding BBCs and POs through comments from shipowners, brokers and banking officials

(Please continue reading the full paid version, available in both English and Japanese. The Japanese article appears after the English version.)

第35回ルポルタージュ・日本船主

中古船価格急騰、欧州オペのPO行使に複雑な心境

　7日午後、オンライン取材に応じた中国地方の日本船主が複雑な心境を吐露した。

　「足元の中古船価格を考えれば、欧州オペレーターやギリシャ船主が我々と結ぶBBC（裸用船契約）に盛り込まれているパーチェス・オプション（船舶購入選択権）を行使するのは当然だ。しかし、我々が受けるPO売却額と現在の中古船価格を比べた場合、中古船市場で売却した方が何倍も高く売れる」（中国地方の日本船主社長）

　取材に応じた日本船主の社長が嘆くのは理解できるが、それがPOというものだ、と冷静に指摘する欧州オペレーターの意見にも頷ける。

■記事本文では以下の内容を読むことができます（記事全文約2,000文字）

→中古船価格が高騰する中、日本船主がBBCに盛り込んだPO（船舶購入選択権）を巡り複雑な心境

→「PO行使自体ではなく、契約にPOを盛り込んでいる現実に目を向けるべき」と外資系ブローカー

→PO価格の設定は、地方銀行による船舶ファイナンスを支える一種の担保としての側面も

→船舶管理リスクの高まりを背景に、裸用船を志向する日本船主が増加

→BBCとPOを巡る日本船主の本音と契約の背景を、船主、ブローカー、銀行関係者の証

言から探る

（続きは英語と日本語で書かれた有料版の本文でお読みください。日本語の記事は英文記事に続いて掲載されています）