A 10-year-old supramax bulker arrested earlier this year by the National Bank of Greece went under the hammer in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on 24 July, TradeWinds has learned.
A single offer of just $5 more than the reserve price of $9m won the 57,000-dwt Blue Cat (built 2009) in an electronic auction. The buyer’s identity was not revealed. Some brokers believe the ship was acquired by Greek interests.
Third time lucky
It was the third attempt to offload the Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard-built vessel. Two previous auctions held on 5 June and on 3 July did not attract any bids or were postponed due to technical reasons.
The reserve price remained at $9m throughout the sales process.
VesselsValue estimates a ship of the Blue Cat's characteristics is worth $9.1m, while Maritime Strategies International values it at between $8.5m and $10.1m.
The auction documents described the ship’s general condition as “average, due to lack of maintenance”.
The Blue Cat was one of two bulkers in the fleet of Remi Maritime Corp, a Piraeus-based shipmanager.
$50m debt
The National Bank of Greece arrested the Blue Cat in Thessaloniki on 24 April to enforce litigation in the UK, in which the ship’s registered owner, Blue Harbour Maritime, was said to owe about $50m.
The Blue Cat is one of the largest vessels to go under the e-hammer in Greece.
The country’s cash-strapped lenders have recently stepped up foreclosures of assets and loan package sales — and not just in shipping — to clean up their balance sheets in line with the terms of their European Union-funded bailout.
