Polforce Shipping is eyeing the sale of two bulkers in its four-vessel fleet but denies market reports that it has already agreed to shed one of them.
US brokers reported recently that the Greek shipowner had sold the 50,300-dwt Aliki P (built 2001) to an undisclosed buyer for $9.3m.
However, director Captain Eleftherios Polemis told TradeWinds the ship was still on the market and there was no agreement yet to divest it.
This is not the first time news about a sale of the Kawasaki Shipbuilding-constructed vessel turned out to be premature. In January, UK-based brokers reported the Aliki P as sold to Chinese interests for $9.3m.
Polforce bought the bulker for $14.8m in November 2013, but supramaxes of this type have experienced a recovery in value. In early 2016, the ship would have been worth just over $3m, according to VesselsValue. It is not due for special survey until April 2021.
Piraeus-headquartered Polforce registered with Greek authorities in November 2012, with Aliki Polemis as its legal representative.
The low-profile company bought its first ship the same month, acquiring the Kawasaki-built 51,000-dwt bulker Curia (renamed Papayiannis, built 2001) for $13.9m.
Polforce controls four Japanese-built supramaxes with an average age of 16 years. These include the 50,200-dwt Ioanna Pol (built 2004), purchased as Clementine from British Marine in 2016. This turned out to be Polforce’s best-timed investment. It paid $6.6m for the ship, which is probably worth $9.5m to $10m today.
In November 2017, Polforce put the Mitsui-built, 50,300-dwt Agia Eirini (built 2001) up for sale. However, the bulker remains in its fleet and will not be sold for at least another two months, Polemis said.
According to records, the company purchased the Agia Eirini in 2013 for about $13m.