BW Dry Cargo has concluded a deal to sell its only supramax as values show weakness amid the reopening of the bulker sale-and-purchase market.
European brokers said the Copenhagen-based bulker owner — a division of Singapore's BW Group — has sold the 58,000-dwt BW Flax (built 2010).
The Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu)-built ship has gone to a Greek buyer for $10.5m, the source said.
BW Dry Cargo chief executive Christian Bonfils did not respond to requests for comment.
The price is within range of market estimates that put the value of the vessel at between $9.9m and $10.9m, according to separate data from VesselsValue and Maritime Strategies International.
However, brokers described the price as firm in current market conditions.
The deal emerges as the S&P market for bulkers is starting to become more active, as TradeWinds has reported.
But prices have continued to weaken. The Baltic Exchange's Sale and Purchase Assessment for a supramax ticked up 0.9% last Friday to $15.5m — but that is still a 9.9% decline so far this year. The spot market for supramaxes has increased slightly of late, to around $5,500 per day.
VesselsValue estimates that the BW Flax was worth an average of $15.3m in 2018 and $13.7m last year.
TradeWinds reported last week that BW Dry Cargo had put the vessel up for sale, with offers due last Friday.
The company bought the ship as the Pearl Halo for $12m in October 2016 — the same year that the outfit was set up as the bulker arm of BW Group.
BW Dry Cargo's fleet ranges from supramaxes to capesizes. The company has 12 vessels on the water, in addition to four ultramaxes on order at Oshima Shipbuilding and two kamsarmaxes at Tsuneishi Cebu. All of the newbuildings are due for delivery this year.
