Several small Greek shipowners have been shifting their focus from handysizes to supramaxes with moves to renew and expand their fleets.
The most high-profile example is Diligent Holdings. Originally a handysize bulker specialist, it has been second only to Star Bulk Carriers among Greek companies that have scooped up supramax tonnage in the secondhand market this year.
Diligent is not alone. Two Greek companies are linked this week to the purchase of the Japanese-controlled, 53,600-dwt Iyo Wind (built 2008).
Some brokers believe TST International bought the vessel for about $10.3m. Others, however, report that Greek peer Thalkat Shipping snapped it up for $10.45m.
Managers at TST did not respond to a request for comment and Thalkat executives declined to comment.
Both companies were predominantly handysize and handymax players that have been gradually shifting their focus to supramaxes, the next-biggest size category.
Konstantinos Rokkos-led TST reportedly sold the 48,200-dwt Paolo U (built 1997) last week, for between $4m and $4.4m.
If the Iyo Wind purchase is confirmed, it would be TST’s first acquisition in almost four years. For Konstantinos Kladias-led Thalkat, it would be its first buy in nearly three years.
Another recent supramax buyer is Fortius Ship Management, a company previously known as S Frangoulis Ship Management.
Shipping databases show the Athens-based company, or its clients, as the new owner of the 56,000-dwt bulker Misato K (built 2013), which was renamed Aquarius. Brokers reported the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding-constructed vessel as sold in late June to unidentified Greeks at an undisclosed price.
Fortius was a pure-play handysize player before December 2017, when it purchased its first supramax, the 55,900-dwt Neptune Pioneer (built 2007) and renamed it Icarius.
The company’s acquisition of the Misato K is its first move in the sale-and-purchase market since then.
Fortius managers declined to comment.
Another company that moved from handymaxes to supramaxes is US-based Delta Navigation Corp.
The John E Couloucoundis-controlled outfit has emerged as owner of the 56,800-dwt Mia-S (built 2010), which Germany’s Reederei Schepers reportedly sold to unidentified parties at the end of July for $10.2m. It has been renamed Tanzanite.
The purchase of the Mia-S marks Delta Navigation’s return to dry bulk shipping more than a year after it sold the only ship in its fleet, the 43,200-dwt handymax Summer Wind (built 1995).
That vessel made headlines in 2014, when it collided with a barge in an incident that spilled 528 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the Houston Ship Channel. A protracted legal battle followed, after which the owner of the barge paid a $4.9m civil penalty without admitting guilt.
Delta Navigation ultimately sold the Summer Wind in mid-2018, reportedly for about $5.3m. Some databases show the ship in the fleet of United Arab Emirates’ GTCS Trading, but others signal it is controlled by Linter LLC, a Russian company providing grain cargo services in the Black Sea.
A request for comment to Cleopatra Shipping Agency, Delta Navigation’s Greece-based shipmanagement outfit, went unanswered.
And Greeks continued buying supramaxes with gusto last week, according to brokers. The 56,000-dwt Torenia (built 2007) reportedly changed hands for $11.3m; the 58,100-dwt Sea Iris (built 2010) for $13.2m; and the 58,800-dwt Carina Ocean (built 2009) for between $12.1m and $12.7m. All three are currently listed in Japanese-controlled fleets.
