Pacific Basin Shipping has expanded its owned fleet with the purchase of six secondhand bulkers for $125m in cash from Ultrabulk.

The Hong Kong-based owner and operator of 263 supramaxes and handysizes has acquired four ultramaxes, a supramax and a handysize, all of which were built after 2011.

Three of the ultramaxes — a 61,500-dwt ship and a 61,400-dwt vessel built in 2012 and a 61,200-dwt bulker built in 2016 — were constructed at Imabari Shipyard in Japan. The fourth ultramax is a 61,700-dwt ship that was constructed in 2012 at Japan’s Oshima Shipbuilding.

The shipowner bought the three 2012-built ultramaxes for between $20.6m and $21m and the 2016-built vessel for $24.3m.

The other two bulkers are a 58,000-dwt supramax that was built in 2012 at Tsuneishi Cebu Shipyard, a Japanese-controlled yard in the Philippines, and a 37,918-dwt handysize constructed in 2016 at Imabari.

Pacific Basin acquired the supramax for $17.5m and the handysize for $20.6m.

The market value for 10-year-old, 60,000-dwt supramaxes is $21.2m, according to VesselsValue. Handysizes that are six years old carry an estimated $19.6m in value.

The purchases should lower Pacific Basin’s average fleet age to 12 years from 13 years age, which is “ideal” for maximising return on capital and minimising residual value risk as the fleet changes over to zero-carbon ships, Pacific Basin said.

‘‘This transaction is a further step in the execution of this strategy … as we accelerate the transition and make zero-emission-ready vessels the default choice by 2030,” chief executive Martin Fruergaard said in a statement.

Pacific Basin further said that it bought these ships to take advantage of prices on 10- to 15-year-old ultramaxes falling 20% from June 2022 while staying focused on expanding the supramax fleet and renewing the handysize fleet.