Tank Barge Market Report - April 2021

Of the 3,706 barges and 13,607 vessels we currently track, 670 are tank barges with 28 inland and 20 ocean or coastal barges officially on the market for sale. The 28 inland tank barges were built between 1943 and 2015, with 13 or 46.4% 25 years of age or over. The oldest inland tank barge listed today is a 77 year old, 9,000BBL tank barge previously used for transporting #2 oil in the U.S. Great Lakes. This old lady is counterbalanced by a foreign-flagged 2015-built 3,065m3 capacity tank barge located on the South American East Coast. In the 10 to 15 year old range, we have 11 U.S.-flagged and two foreign-flagged, double-hull inland barges ranging from 11,066 to 39,775BBL. One year ago, 24 inland barges were available with an average age of 27 years and five years ago, 28 inland barges were available with an average age of 28 years. The inland barges currently available for sale average 26 years old. Excess barges continue to sit on the market, with the continuation of scraping or selling for conversion to deck service of older units.

Of the 20 ocean/coastal barges, three are 10 years of age or less. Seven or 35.0% of the ocean & coastal barges are at least 25 years old with the oldest one, a U.S. flagged, double-hull, 119,000BBL barge, built in 1970 and retrofitted in 2006. This is countered by a 2016 built foreign flagged 38,000BBL double hull barge. In May 2016, 51.85% of the 25 ocean and coastal barges listed for sale were 25 years of age or older, with the oldest being a 1961-built 30,000BBL barge in the U.S. Today, five fewer ocean/coastal barges are officially available for sale compared to five years ago and one fewer from one year ago. Average age of all ocean/coastal barges for sale today is 23 years old (1998), compared to 25 years last year (1995) and 28 years five years ago (1988). The decline in average age suggests that while older barges have been disposed of, relatively younger units are coming onto the market for sale.

Seventeen inland tank barges which Marcon had listed for sale on the report date are located in the U.S., followed by four each in Europe and Latin America and one each in Africa, the Mediterranean and location unknown. Sixteen ocean / coastwise barges listed for sale are in the U.S., followed by two in Southeast Asia and one each in the Far East and in Latin America. Forty-one of the 48 tank barges listed for sale worldwide are double hull. 29 of these are U.S. flag of which 21 are 11 - 25 years old and the remaining eight barges are 26 - 66 years of age. The foreign double-hull barges range from five years old in the Far East up to 63 years old in the Mediterranean.

Marcon's Market Comments
The tank barge market was in recovery mode in early 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic eased and utilization increased. However, marine petroleum transportation companies were confronted with a new issue in February when Winter Storm Uri dealt the industry a major setback. A majority of refineries in the Gulf of Mexico were shutdown leading to a decline in production and subsequent transportation volumes. Barge utilization fell almost in half, but has slowly recovered in the months since. As of this report, utilization is nearly back to pre-Uri levels and forecast to increase for the remainder of the year as the COVID re-opening continues and the economy grows. Both the inland and coastwise markets are expected to improve as 2021 continues. These markets should also be positively impacted by proposed infrastructure spending. Marcon has a number of ocean and inland tank barges available for sale.

 

Commercial Marine Brokers since 1981