New York-listed Eagle Bulk Shipping has sold one older supramax and circulated two more for sale as it continues the process of overhauling its fleet.
The bulker owner has sold the 53,400-dwt Skua (built 2003) for $5.4m to unidentified Chinese interests, according to market sources.
Stamford-based Eagle Bulk also has placed two similar vessels — the 53,300-dwt Shrike (built 2003) and 50,200-dwt Osprey 1 (built 2002) — on the sales block, continuing a plan to sell older tonnage as bulkers approach dry-docking dates, sources said.
Company executives declined to comment this week on the Skua sale and its efforts to sell the Shrike and Osprey 1.
TradeWinds first reported Eagle Bulk's effort to sell the Skua last November.
The bulker is worth $5.16m in the estimation of VesselsValue, which assigns a price of $5.08m for the Shrike and $4.44m to the Osprey 1.
Eagle Bulk over the past 52 months has now sold 15 older supramaxes of roughly 50,000 dwt to 53,000 dwt. Over about the same period, Eagle Bulk has acquired 20 ultramax units in the range of about 64,000 dwt.
The 20 acquisitions were about three years old at point of acquisition, while the 15 disposals averaged about 14 years.
At the same time, Eagle Bulk has touted improved fuel efficiency and performance of the newer, larger vessels.
Eagle Bulk's last confirmed sale, reported in August with its second-quarter earnings, was the 52,400-dwt Goldeneye (built 2002) to undisclosed buyers.
These sale-and-purchase transactions have vastly improved our fleet make-up.
"The average size of our ships has increased," said Eagle Bulk chief executive Gary Vogel on the owner's last quarterly earnings call.
"The average age of our fleet has remained fairly static over the period, (while) our fleet emissions profile has significantly improved as measured by fuel consumption per deadweight ton. We plan to continue to also execute on our fleet renewal and growth program on an opportunistic basis."
Assuming Eagle Bulk is able to strike a deal for the Shrike and Osprey 1, its oldest remaining bulkers are the 50,200-dwt Tern (built 2003) and 52,200-dwt Jaeger (built 2004).
With the Skua sale, Eagle Bulk has 49 bulkers, all in the ultramax and supramax size range.
