Idan Ofer’s Eastern Pacific Shipping is said to have taken advantage of rising boxship values again, with the sale of two older vessels.
The diversified shipowning company is reported to have sold the Daewoo Mangalia-built, 8,740-teu CSAV Trancura (built 2013) and the 2,646-teu Botany Bay (built 2006) to Israel’s XT Shipping.
The price of the vessels has not been disclosed.
VesselsValue lists the post-panamax boxships as worth $60.95m.
The CSAV Trancura was one of four newbuildings ordered by Zodiac Maritime in 2011 at a reported price of about $90m. The vessel went under Eastern Pacific’s control after the division of Sammy Ofer’s shipping empire between Eyal and Idan Ofer in 2013.
A containership expert said Eastern Pacific bought the Jurong-built Botany Bay in 2016 at auction for a scrap price of $3.5m.
VesselsValue values the containership at $7.86m but the containership expert thinks it may have been sold for $9m or $10m, based on the current strong market.
The Botany Bay was previously named Pontremoli and was one of several vessels financed by Hamburgische Seehandlung, which went into receivership.
Last month, Eastern Pacific was reported to have sold the 6,350-teu Hyundai New York (built 2009) to Wan Hai Lines for $32.3m.
Officials at Eastern Pacific declined to comment when contacted. But a source familiar with the company said it had taken advantage of the strong containership market to dispose of some of its old-technology vessels.
“Good deals for EPS [Eastern Pacific] and the transactions are consistent with its strategic positioning,” said the source.
Eastern Pacific is committed to the decarbonisation of the maritime industry. It strongly believes that as a shipowner, it needs to make a concrete commitment to the environment and reduce its carbon footprint. The company is believed to be the first tonnage provider to have ordered large dual-fuel containerships in 2017.
Today, it has some 34 dual-fuel newbuildings that include containerships, bulkers, tankers and gas carriers on order at shipyards in China and South Korea.
