(FORTUNE Magazine) – Think there's a bit of Aristotle Onassis in you? Some investors have found a way to test their talent for shipping. Shipping? The industry that seemed destined for the Mindanao Deep just a few years back? Well, the game is speculative, but a small fleet of companies that let investors pay to play have come to market in the past year or so, among them: Nortankers, Anangel- American Shipholdings, Global Ocean Carriers, and MC Shipping. Here's how the game works. A newly formed company buys a half-dozen used bulk carriers or oil tankers, runs them for five or six years, sells the ships, and then liquidates. Shareholders get dividends from operating profits as well as gains from the appreciation of the vessels. Three of the companies -- B&H Bulk Carriers, B&H Ocean Carriers, and B&H Maritime Carriers -- are run by Michael Hudner, president of B&H Management, which helped pioneer the concept two years ago. Hudner says the outlook is bright: ''We're in a fundamentally rising market.'' Why? Prices for used vessels, which have fallen and risen like the tide in recent years, are at their highest in a decade (see chart). After bottoming in the mid-1980s, prices have been climbing because up to 11% of the world's tankers were scrapped each year while shipping was growing steadily. Says James Winchester, an analyst with the Mabon Nugent brokerage firm: ''The supply of ships, for the first time in ten years, is in line with demand.'' The average tanker fleet is 15 years old, with a life expectancy of 25 years. Even so, current shipping rates don't justify the cost of building new vessels -- about $75 million for a large tanker. That bodes well for future operating income: ''Rates are going to have to go up to a level that will support new construction,'' says Hudner. Once interest in new vessels picks up, shipbuilders may be hard pressed to meet demand -- capacity has been slashed 40% to 50% since the early 1980s. The waiting period for taking delivery of a new tanker, for example, is up to 24 months. Loews' Majestic Shipping, which owns a half-dozen tankers, scuttled a planned public offering in 1986. Too bad for investors. Its ships cost $46 million then and are now worth $250 million to $300 million.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: SOURCE: LLOYD'S SHIPPING ECONOMIST: PRICES FOR LARGEST VESSELS CAPTION: WANT TO BUY A SECONDHAND SHIP?