Navigare Capital Partners has made its first investment on behalf of a new maritime fund, buying three modern containerships worth a combined $150m.
The Danish investment company has purchased its largest boxship to date with the acquisition of the 14,400-teu Thalassa Pistis (built 2014) from the Lemos family-controlled Enesel.
It also has made its first move into smaller boxships by buying the modern wide-beam 3,510-teu NileDutch Antwerpen (built 2015) and NileDutch Breda (built 2014).
The three vessels are the first purchases by the Maritime Investment Fund II, which is looking to raise capital for further acquisitions, Navigare managing partner Henrik Ramskov confirmed.
The fund is a maritime-focused investment vehicle established in mid-2019 by Navigare, together with three Danish pension funds with more than $300m to invest.
Ramskov expects the fund to emulate the success of Maritime Investment Fund I, which invested $450m in vessels chartered on long-term contracts with a total value that Navigare estimates at about $1bn.
Charter back
Navigare is acquiring its latest three boxships on the back of long-term charters with liner operators.
It will leave the company with a container fleet comprising seven neo-Panamaxes of between 9,000 teu and 14,400 teu and two smaller feeder designs.
The Thalassa Pistis is estimated to be worth $95m, according to VesselsValue.
Enesel owns five other boxships of this size. Four others in a series of 10 vessels contracted by Lemos at Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2012 were sold to Ship Finance International in 2018.
Ramskov confirmed the Thalassa Pistis has more than three years left of a long-running charter with Taiwanese operator Evergreen.
The rate is unknown, although 12-month fixtures for vessels of this size are typically about $45,000 per day.
Similarly, the 3,510-teu vessels, which were built at China’s Shanghai Shipyard, have an estimated charter-free value of about $25m each.
These are understood to have been purchased with five-year charters to Dutch operator NileDutch.
In today’s market, the vessels might be expected to earn about $15,000 per day for a 12-month fixture, although the five-year rate could be as low as $10,000 per day.
Diversified fleet
Navigare, which is owned by Robert Maersk Uggla and four partners, was established in 2017 to provide institutional investors with opportunities in maritime assets.
Besides containerships, its portfolio of assets comprises six tankers, three bulkers and a LNG carrier newbuilding.
The Copenhagen-based company made its move in the boxship sector in late 2017 by acquiring a trio of neo-Panamaxes estimated to be worth more than $200m.
It bought the 10,000-teu CMA CGM Calcutta (built 2018) as a resale from China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and the 9,962-teu CMA CGM Mekong and CMA CGM Ganges (both built 2015) from Oceanbulk Containers.
In 2018, Navigare acquired the 9,030-teu UASC Zamzam (ex-Asiatic Summer, built 2014) from German owner Atlantic Lloyd.
In September 2019, Navigare paid an estimated $160m for the 13,400-teu Faustina (built 2011) and Filomena (built 2010) from Germany’s Peter Dohle Schiffahrts.
These ships were bought with capital provided from Navigare’s Maritime Investment Fund I.
