Tomini Shipping has revealed that it has bought five more handysize bulk carriers from the fleet of Bermuda-based Interlink Maritime in addition to the four previously reported in February .
The Dubai-based company revealed the true scale of its vessel purchases during the first half of this year when it unveiled on Tuesday the latest addition to its rapidly growing fleet — the 38,700-dwt Tomini Kaimai (built 2016).
The ship, acquired as Interlink Veracity, is the fifth ship to sail across to Tomini from Interlink.
Tomini, which is listed on the Norwegian over-the-counter market, was reported by brokers in late February to have tied up deals worth $102m to buy four 2016-built handysizes — the 38,500-dwt Interlink Utility (renamed Tomini Oroshi), the 38,800-dwt Interlink Tenacity (renamed Tomini Shamal), and the 39,000-dwt sister ships Interlink Affinity (renamed Tomini Alize) and Interlink Audacity (renamed Tomini Mistral).
VesselsValue data indicates that a deal was struck in mid-March to acquire the Tomini Kaimai and its 2015-built sister ship Interlink Probity, which has yet to be delivered. No pricing details were disclosed for this transaction.
Also set to join the Tomini fleet at some point in the near future are the 38,700-dwt Interlink Quality (built 2016), and the 38,800-dwt Interlink Capacity and Interlink Equality (both built 2016).
They were also sold in March, although at the time brokers said the deals had been lined up with Greek interests.
These nine ships, some of which were acquired via Chinese leasing structures, together with two other handysizes bought from Korfez Denizcilik of Turkey in early February, will give Tomini a fleet of 26 ships with an average age of five years.
This fleet comprises of a mix of handysize to ultramax bulk carriers, along with a single panamax.
Explaining the reasons for buying nine handysize bulkers in such a short period of time, Tomini fourth-generation chief executive Numair Shaikh painted a bullish picture of the handysize bulker market, claiming that its prospects going forward are very good.
“We see a very positive supply side picture on the handies, with relatively few newbuilds on order, and an ageing profile of the existing fleet. This leads to greater recycling numbers due to incoming environmental regulations, meaning the fundamentals are very much in favour of a positive handysize segment,” Shaikh said.
Tomini’s raiding of the Interlink fleet for its tonnage needs have left the Hamilton-headquartered company with four or five ships.
Interlink is backed by Carlyle, a private equity giant. When the company began offloading a slew of ships in the early part of the 2022, market observers suggested Carlyle had decided that the time had come to capitalise on at least some of its shipping investments.
While Interlink has mostly been in a selling mood this year, in June it also bought back two bulkers from Norwegian leasing company Ocean Yield. It then went on to sell one of these, the 38,700-dwt Interlink Dignity (built 2015) to Tufton Oceanic for an undisclosed sum.