Greece’s Moundreas family has bought a 14-year-old capesize bulker shortly after flipping a 16-year-old VLCC tanker in a lucrative asset play.

The double deal comes as a further sign of sale-and-purchase activity increasing in the bulker sector, attracting the attention of canny players who were focusing on tankers over the past year.

US brokers have identified Moundreas-controlled NGM Energy as the buyer of the 170,000-dwt Cape Maria (built 2005).

Capesize seller

Greek peer Alma Maritime sold the ship, as TradeWinds reported last week, but the buyers were unknown. The Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries-built vessel is believed to have fetched $13.8m.

The Cape Maria was just one among several capesize transactions reported last week.

These included a $17.8m deal for the 180,200-dwt Nord Steel (built 2007), which has gone to as yet unnamed Greeks. China's Agri Corp is said to have snapped up the 175,100-dwt MSXT Vivienne (built 2004) for about $12.5m.

Capesize deals were few and far between in the first half of the year. However, the situation has drastically improved.

“It is rather evident that the mood has changed in the market, having almost wiped out all recent memory of the troubled days during the first quarter of 2019,” Allied Research said in note on Monday.

“Strong indications are now being felt of an upsurge in asset prices,” the brokerage added.

Asset play

The Moundreas group earned at least half the money it spent to buy the Cape Maria by selling the 299,100-dwt Vida (built 2003) at a significantly higher price than it bought it for about eight months ago.

The large crude carrier went to Middle Eastern interests, according to market sources in Athens. The Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering-built ship was intially thought to have been sold in May for about $26m. Even at that price, it would have been a profitable asset play for NGM Energy, which acquired the vessel in October from Germany’s Dr Peters for about $22.8m.

However, NGM Energy managed to squeeze an even higher profit, selling the Vida for almost $30m, TradeWinds is told.

Equasis lists the Vida under its new name, Dalton, but the identity of its buyer has not been revealed.