Norden has ordered four ultramax bulker newbuildings from a yard in China.
The 61,000-dwt vessels are expected to be delivered to the Danish shipowner-operator in 2022 and will be built at Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (Nacks), which is a joint venture between China Cosco Shipping Corp and Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan.
Norden chief executive Jan Rindbo said the newbuilding contract is in line with the company's strategy of "agile" asset trading.
“Having sold 10 dry cargo vessels since 2018, we believe asset prices have now declined sufficiently to present a good trading opportunity to buy,” Rindbo said on Monday.
Norden did not disclose the contract price for the four vessels.
The newbuildings will be managed by Norden's asset management business unit, which looks after the company's core fleet of owned and long-term leased tankers and bulkers.
Henrik Lykkegaard Madsen, head of the asset management unit, said Norden would aim to "optimise" its returns by trading its portfolio of bulkers and the newbuildings "within the prevailing market volatility".
“With a demand outlook gradually returning to normal and a low orderbook, we believe it’s a good time to buy assets and secure competitively priced tonnage,” Madsen said.
The new order marks a step away from Norden's preference for Japan-built bulkers.
"With regard to the choice of yard, this is where we saw the best opportunity in terms of the overall deal — and we consider Nacks a quality yard with a very good reputation in the market both among owners and as an operator their vessels are commercially competitive," a spokesperson for Norden told TradeWinds on Monday.
Norden is awaiting delivery this year of two 64,000-dwt ultramaxes from Oshima Shipbuilding.
The company currently owns eight ultramaxes, all of which were built at the Japanese yard. Two handysizes and two panamaxes, which were also built in Japan, make up the rest of its owned bulker fleet.
According to data from VesselsValue, the ultramax orderbook stands at 145 vessels, including launched ships, which is equal to around 15% of the live fleet of 998 vessels in the segment.
Some 78 ultramax newbuildings are scheduled for delivery this year, according to VesselsValue.
