Jinhui Shipping & Transportation has moved quickly to replace an elderly supramax it agreed to sell last week.
The Oslo and Hong Kong-listed owner said it has signed a deal to acquire the 63,800-dwt ultramax Hanton Trader III (built 2014) for $20.43m.
Delivery will take place between 16 October and 10 November from Vega Maritime of the United Arab Emirates, a company controlled by Kenneth Fjeld and GV Surajh.
The Chinese-built bulker is coming charter-free and will be Jinhui’s joint-largest in a fleet of 24.
VesselsValue assesses it as worth $21.4m.
Jinhui said it was “seeking to lower the average age” of its fleet.
The vessel has previously been listed in the fleet of Nisshin Shipping of Japan and was reported sold by brokers in August, a deal reported by TradeWinds at the time.
Last week, Jinhui resumed selling its veteran vessels as it focused on a more efficient fleet.
The 52,700-dwt supramax Jin Feng (built 2004) went to ETL Shipping in Singapore.
The bulker fetched $8.08m, having joined the fleet in May 2021 from Taiwan Navigation for $10.8m.
Jinhui said the book value was $10.2m at 30 June, which would entail a $2.2m book loss after expenses.
Sale and purchase whirl
The company’s oldest ships will now date from 2006.
The Hong Kong owner pointed out that the Jin Feng deal will still generate positive cash flow.
The ship made $1.9m in trading profit in 2022.
Three supramaxes and two post-panamaxes built between 2001 and 2010 were sold by Jinhui last year and three 2014-built ultramaxes were brought in.
The owner logged a $6.5m second-quarter loss, down from a $20.3m profit for the same period in 2022, as the supramax sector lost much of the momentum it had a year ago.
Revenue dropped to $22.8m, from $50.6m a year earlier.
