Two supramax bulkers previously owned by SAM Shipping have been auctioned with one confirmed sold and the other still being processed.
The 57,200-dwt SAM Hawk (built 2013) has been sold for just under $10.7m to an entity named Lavera Maritime, which is believed to be backed by Turkish interests, a source with knowledge of the deal told TradeWinds.
The source described the price for the South Korea-built bulker as "firm", considering the difficulties the buyers had in bidding for the vessel and inspecting the vessel in Mundra, India, where it was arrested by mortgagee bank Credit Suisse in May.
Meanwhile, the Singapore High Court is still processing bids for the 57,400-dwt SAM Jaguar (built 2013) and an outcome is expected in around two weeks' time, the source told TradeWinds.
Lavera Maritime and other companies that bid on the SAM Hawk are known to have also made bids for the SAM Jaguar, making it possible that the sisterships could end up in the same hands, the source added.
The SAM Jaguar was arrested by Credit Suisse in Singapore in March, where it has remained at Kim Heng's Pandan Shipyard.
Credit Suisse arrested the sister vessels because $23.7m was outstanding under the loan it provided in 2012 to finance the duo.
The bank has also targeted other bulkers linked to SAM Shipping, which is based in Switzerland but backed by two prominent Russian and Azerbaijani families.
Ongoing dispute
SAM Shipping is said to have suffered financially as a result of an ongoing dispute over alleged bill-of-lading fraud with Maltese trade financier FIMBank in a US federal court in Texas.
FIMBank arrested the 32,600-dwt bulker SAM Eagle (built 2010) at the Texas port of Corpus Christi last September in the dispute, which is unrelated to vessel financing.
The handysize bulker was sold in an "intense" online auction in July for $4.7m, as TradeWinds has reported.
The China-built vessel has since entered the fleet of United Arab Emirates-based Global Marine Services and has been renamed Lila Houston, according to shipping databases.
SAM Shipping chief executive Dennis Saeviki told TradeWinds in March that it has been "unable to find common ground" with its vessel financiers while the dispute with FIMBank drags on, which motivated Credit Suisse to accelerate its loans to the company.
The sales leave SAM Shipping with two bulkers — the 57,200-dwt SAM Wolf and the 57,200-dwt SAM Lion (both built 2012) — both of which have been circulated for sale by the owner.
The 33,400-dwt SAM Panther (built 2010) appears to have been sold quietly to Carisbrooke Shipping of the UK during June and renamed Cecilia.
The 52,500-dwt bulker Nord (ex-SAM Tiger, built 2003) was arrested in March over an unpaid $220,000 bill for services rendered, but SAM Shipping claimed it does not own the vessel.
