Greece’s Moundreas family has injected further momentum into a busy secondhand market for dry bulkers with the purchase of two capesizes.
Market sources in Athens identified the Nicholas G Moundreas-founded shipping group as the buyer of the 176,000-dwt Han Fu Star (built 2012) for a price at the high end of $18m.
The owner is also said to have spent more than $10m to buy the 175,800-dwt Cape Mars (built 2003) from Taiwan’s U-Ming Marine Transport.
It is a stark reminder of how much shipping markets have changed in the few months since U-Ming was said to be looking to sell the Cape Mars for scrap in October, for between $8m and $8.5m.
The ship is not due for special survey until July 2023. It has been in U-Ming’s fleet since it was new.
The Han Fu Star, a younger vessel built at China’s Jiangshu Rongsheng yard, has been circulating for sale since November. Some brokers identified Singapore’s Berge Bulk as its buyer but TradeWinds understands this to be incorrect.
Striking when the iron is hot
Nine capesizes are said to have changed hands to date this year after steep increases in the freight market boosted expectations for a commodity super-cycle when the global economy recovers from the impact of coronavirus.
Another capesize reported sold by brokers recently is Foremost Maritime’s 178,000-dwt Ping May (built 2010), which is said to have gone to unidentified Chinese interests for a firm $20m.
“The recent upward movement in the freight market has had a quicker-than-usual effect on secondhand asset values, lessening the lag we usually see between chartering and S&P [sale and purchase],” Athens-based Doric Shipbrokers said in a report on 22 January.
Buying interest remains strong, even among players such as Moundreas, who started buying capesizes much earlier in the cycle, when prices were below today's level.
The Greek owner has purchased three capesizes since October: the 171,000-dwt Aquacharm (renamed Charm, built 2003); the 172,400-dwt Mineral Antwerpen (renamed Antwerp, built 2003); and the 181,500-dwt Pacific Endurance (renamed Pacifist, built 2011).
All of them have since appreciated in value.
“There are those looking to strike now that the freight market is hot, even though they face rising asset prices,” Doric Shipbrokers said.
“And there are those ... waiting and hoping that prices will continue to climb before entering the arena as sellers. Many sellers are revising their ideas on a weekly basis, or pulling their vessels from sale shelves altogether.”
The improvement in sentiment was also evident in Doric Shipbrokers’ annual survey of dry bulk owners, charterers, brokers and other shipping players.
About 58% of respondents polled between 3 and 14 January said they were “optimistic" or "cautiously optimistic” about the market, compared to just 40% in the same survey for 2020.
Even more tellingly, just 2.5% of the poll’s 78 respondents described themselves as “rather pessimistic”, down from 25% in the survey last year.
Trond Lillestolen contributed to this article
