The remarkable recovery in dry bulk freight rates has spawned sale-and-purchase deals at a brisk pace for a second consecutive week, with larger ship types moving centre stage.
Potential sellers who held back in recent weeks when vessel values were lower now apparently feel that prices have climbed enough to let their ships go.
A characteristic example is the 176,900-dwt New Stage (built 2008), which brokers in the US and Greece report as sold to Chinese or Greek buyers for $16m.
Hsin Chien Marine last month turned down a $14.5m bid for the Namura Shipbuilding-constructed vessel. TradeWinds was told at the time that the Taiwanese company had withdrawn the vessel from the market because it would not accept anything below $16m.
Hsin Chien now has found buyers willing to pay that price. Some brokers suspect that Athens-based Erasmus Shipinvest is behind the deal.
Managers at Hsin Chien and Erasmus did not respond to a request for comment.
In another reported capesize deal, Greece’s Alpha Bulkers sold the 170,400-dwt Alpha Era (built 2000) for $7.8m, possibly to China’s Fujian Ocean Shipping (Fosco), according to some broker reports.
Managers at Alpha and Fosco did not respond to a request for comment.
Alpha Bulkers sold another two capesizes in April 2019 and in January 2020, with both vessels eventually ending up at the scrapyard. However, a trading buyer was found this time as appetite to actively employ such vessels rises.
Positive upturn
“Buying interest within the capesize sector has picked up this week against the backdrop of a positive upturn in the freight market,” Clarksons said in a report on 19 June.
Analysts at Athens-based Intermodal observe the same trend across the entire dry bulk spectrum. “Buyers have been once again showing particular interest... with optimism widening further amidst the recent impressive improvement in the freight market,” they said in a weekly note on 23 June.
A particularly eye-catching case was the $41m en bloc sale of three 2010-built kamsarmaxes by BW Dry Cargo, which TradeWinds reported last week.
The trio’s buyers are shrouded in mystery and speculation about them abounds. Some brokers say they are Scandinavians, while others speculate that US-based American Bulk Transport (ABT) or Greece’s Unisea Shipping might be behind the deal.
Market sources that TradeWinds spoke with say it is highly unlikely that ABT is the buyer.
Unisea did not respond to a request for comment.
In another notable deal, Japan’s Nisshin Shipping is said to have sold a recently delivered kamsarmax — the 82,200-dwt Aquavita Air (built 2020) — for between $28m and $28.5m.
Greek buyers are believed to have bought the Oshima Shipbuilding-constructed vessel. Some brokers identified Eastern Mediterranean (Eastmed) as the buyer but TradeWinds understands this is not correct.
A sale of the Aquavita Air would come as no surprise. TradeWinds reported earlier this month how Japanese dry bulk operators are unleashing a plethora of post-panamax bulkers onto the S&P market as steel production in Japan falls to its lowest level since 2009.
Nisshin Shipping is believed to have sold smaller vessels as well. Greeks reportedly picked up the 38,300-dwt NY Trader I and the 37,100-dwt NY Trader II (both built 2014) in an en bloc deal for $25m.
In another reported sale by Japanese interests to Greeks, Santoku Senpaku divested the 28,200-dwt Global Trinity (built 2011) for $6.6m.
Busy S&P player Angeliki Frangou is said to have benefited from the reviving market to offload yet another of its older vessels — the 75,400-dwt Navios Northern Star (built 2005) — for between $7m and $7.2m.
Done deals
The number of concluded deals is not the only indication of the S&P bulker market heating up. The list of potential transactions is lengthening as well: Greek brokers reported 10 bulkers circulating for sale in the week to 19 June — the highest number so far this year.
These include a capesize quartet, which Greathorse International was said to have committed to an undisclosed Chinese leasing company in December last year. Those vessels are the 180,000-dwt Tiger Jiangsu (built 2010) and Tiger Guangdong, Tiger Shandong and Tiger Liaoning (all built 2011).
K Line is separately believed to be inviting offers for the 203,000-dwt Cape Rosa (built 2005) and Doun Kisen for the 83,500-dwt KM Yokohama (built 2011).
Holly Birkett and Trond Lillestolen contributed to this article.
