Fledgling German feeder operator Okee Maritime is in the process of buying its fifth containership.
The 1,732-teu Hansa Marburg (built 2007) is being acquired from Leonhardt & Blumberg for just under $5.8m, sale-and-purchase brokers said.
The handysize vessel was reportedly sold last month to Bohai Shipping of China, but the deal failed to close.
If the purchase is completed, it would be the fourth feeder boxship that the shipowner has acquired from fellow Hamburg owner L&B.
Okee was set up in 2014 with the goal of growing a fleet of feeder containerships bought cheaply on the secondhand market.
Rates picking up
The company made its first move into shipowning in 2016 with the acquisition of the 1,510-teu Okee August (built 1998).
Since then, it has added the 950-teu Okee Lilo (built 1998), and 1,700-teu Okee Alba and Okee Ann Mari (both built 2002).
The acquisition of the Hansa Marburg comes as charter rates for such vessels are picking up, with brokers saying earnings are strongest in the Atlantic and Caribbean basins.
The 1,700-teu Hansa Magdeburg (built 2003) was fixed for three to five months with Cosco at $8,000 per day.
But that is still down on rates of about $11,000 per day a year ago.
Okee is managed by Jan Wolff and Georg Von Rantzau, a member of the German shipping family behind the Deutsche Afrika Linien/John T Essberger Group.
A third founding partner, Felix Honicke, is no longer with the company.
Okee also manages a multipurpose vessel for Stade-based Freese Shipping.
