Eagle Bulk Shipping is offering an older bulker for sale after withdrawing another from the market, dry bulk sources said.
Connecticut-based Eagle Bulk is looking for offers on the 53,350-dwt supramax Skua (built 2003). But it has decided to hold onto the 52,400-dwt Jaeger (built 2004) after prices in recent weeks were not to its liking, the sources added.
In a third-quarter earnings call, Eagle Bulk chief executive Gary Vogel detailed the company’s efforts to renew its fleets over the past 42 months by shedding older vessels.
“We now have acquired and sold a total of 34 vessels over the past 3.5 years, divesting 14 of our smallest, oldest and least-efficient supramaxes, which average roughly 13 years of age at sale, and acquiring a total of 20 modern ultramaxes averaging around three years of age at purchase,” Vogel told equity analysts.
Marketed for sale
Eagle Bulk executives were not immediately available for comment on reports of the latest two bulkers marketed.
The number of secondhand vessels for sale in the market appears to exceed interest from buyers, who have been reluctant to commit at current asking prices, sources added.
At last quarter’s earnings report, Stamford-based Eagle Bulk had 50 supramax and ultramax units, making it the largest publicly listed owner globally of such bulkers.
The growth and renewal programme has significantly enhanced earnings capability, Vogel told analysts, while improving operating efficiency related to vessel speed and fuel consumption.
The Skua was built at Japan’s Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding. It is priced by VesselsValue at $7.38m.
The Jaeger was built at Japan’s Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu. It is worth $7.61m, according to VesselsValue, which also details Eagle Bulk’s fleet as being on average eight years old and worth $632m overall.
