Greece's New Shipping has emerged as the new owner of a 15-year old newcastlemax that changed hands late last year, when dry bulk markets were nt quite as bleak as they are today.
The 203,100-dwt Azul Fortuna (built 2005) joined the company’s fleet at the end of March under its new name, Captain Leonidas, data on Equasis shows.
Japan’s Kotobuki Kaiun was reported to have sold the ship in late November to Zodiac Maritime for $15.8m. TradeWinds, however, understands that New Shipping, the Azul Fortuna's actual buyer, acquired the ship at a price below that level.
That, however, will be small comfort for the Adam Polemis-led company, which has been watching dry bulk markets collapse since amid the coronavirus crisis. VesselsValue estimates the Universal-built Azul Fortuna is now worth merely $11.9m.
Things might have looked better for New Shipping if it had lined up long-term employment for the ship - the same way the company has done with the other four newcastlemaxes it owns, all of which are on bareboat charters with Oldendorff Carriers.
The Azul Fortuna, however, is understood not to be part of New Shipping’s arrangement with Oldendorff and will be trading in the open market instead. Things there started to improve a little for large bulkers last week: average earnings for non-scrubber fitted capesizes rose above $5,000 per day for the first time this year, according to Clarksons.
Polemis should find it easy to shrug off any eventual short-term loss from the acquisition of the Azul Fortuna. His mixed fleet offers enough diversification to compensate deficits in one sector with gains in another.
Alongside its 16 bulkers, New Shipping is listed with a fleet of 22 tankers. That includes ten VLCCs, which have been trading in a red-hot market for crude oil carriers.
Even older VLCCs of the kind New Shipping operates have been making good business. In February, London-based brokers reported that India’s IOC fixed the company's 319,400-dwt Good News (built 2002) for a year at $31,500 per day, with an option to renew the deal for another year at the same rate.
In March, Trafigura was said to have fixed New Shipping's 298,600-dwt VLCC New Karpathos (built 2000) for six months at $30,000 per day.
A few weeks earlier New Shipping bought the 165,300-dwt suezmax Narmada Spirit (built 2003) from Teekay for about $19m. The ship is now trading as New Discovery and is already worth $20.4m, according to VesselsValue.
