Chemical tanker owner Axel C Eitzen is ending his dry bulk legacy with the sale of a supramax in a buoyant market.
Eitzen confirmed to TradeWinds that his sole bulker, the Oshima-built, 53,000-dwt Sibulk Tradition (built 2008), was put up for sale last week and is likely to be snapped up.
Eitzen will now concentrate on his Danish chemical tanker company, Christiania Shipping.
He wants to expand Christiania but has previously told TradeWinds he is pursuing a different strategy than in the period before 2008, when he controlled four publicly listed shipowning companies with a total of 150 ships, before the market crashed.
China inspection
The Sibulk Tradition has already been inspected by a number of potential buyers and is currently loading at Ningbo in China, where it is available for inspection.
But brokers stress the vessel is still not sold. Given the market's current appetite for Japanese-built bulkers, it might end up fetching as much as $16m.
In a recent transaction involving a vessel of similar vintage, new Norwegian shipowner Vega Bulk Carriers has bought its first vessel. It paid $16.5m at the end of July for the Oshima-constructed, 55,500-dwt Aditya (built 2008).
The Sibulk Tradition was in Eitzen's fleet before the 2008 collapse. It has several co-owners and is now newly classed and refinanced.
"I am sure they will like a firm price," he told TradeWinds. "I would like to get some cash myself. It is a fantastic project."
Rate surge
Eitzen's bulk investment will benefit not only from a powerful surge in bulker rates over the past six months but from the starting point at which it was made.
He bought the supramax with fellow investors in 2015 for a reported price of just $12.4m. However, Eitzen did reveal how much he paid.
Eitzen had previously told TradeWinds he intends to expand the Christiania Shipping chemical carrier venture cautiously after a major refinancing in December gave him full control of the company, formerly called Herning Shipping.
Christiania Shipping positions itself as an industrial shipping company. It operates a fleet of 19 tankers, 12 of which are owned. They range from 3,500 dwt to 12,600 dwt.
