In the first capesize deal to be reported in a fortnight, Theodore Veniamis-led Golden Union is said to be selling a 15-year-old, Japanese-built unit amid multi-year high prices for such ships.
The transaction coincides with recent analysis that points to continued buying interest for large bulkers from owners doggedly betting on a strong economic rebound in China — an expectation that has so far proved somewhat elusive.
In the case of Golden Union’s 180,100-dwt Royal Iole (built 2009), the buyers are from China, according to Greek brokers.
Managers at Golden Union, who did not respond to a request for comment, have an incentive to sell.
The $24.1m reportedly fetched by the Royal Iole easily exceeds the $17.8m to $18.4m that Veniamis spent to acquire the ship in October 2020, when it was trading as Royal Accord in the fleet of Japan’s Tokei Kaiun.
The reported price is also in line with indicative average values for such ships that are at a nine-year high, according to Clarksons’ figures that have not been adjusted for inflation (see graph).
An even firmer price indication would be the $26m that Greek peer Thenamaris is rumoured to be getting for the one-year younger, Chinese-built, 177,800-dwt Seamate (built 2010).
A sale to Chinese buyers would hardly be a first for Golden Union. Its 93,500-dwt Flag Trias (built 2007), a bulker reported sold to undisclosed buyers for $14.5m in November, emerged a month later as AC Glorious in the fleet of Glorious Youth Shipping.
Set up in 2022, Shanghai-based Glorious Youth has assembled a fleet of nine midsize to large bulkers that include a capesize bought from the Angelicoussis Group.
Such deals show the dedication of capesize fans, despite the frequent ups and downs of earnings.
“There is … a pool of investment-hungry, capesize-focused buyers competing closely with each other to acquire either index-fixed units or candidates giving delivery by February-end the latest,” wrote Eva Tzima, head of analysis at Seaborne Shipbrokers, on 29 January.
The weeks following Chinese New Year, on 8 February, are when such players expect the freight market to experience a China-led take-off, she added.
A recent loosening of China’s banks’ reserve requirements and the Red Sea disruption give optimists other reasons to think that now is the time to buy.
“The relatively healthy — for this time of the year — earnings the sector has been experiencing, together with tonne-mile support as an increasing number of vessels carrying grain cargoes has been diverting from the Suez Canal to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, are supporting activity in the secondhand market, where price ideas have in a few cases even inched up last week,” Tzima wrote.
The activity extends to smaller bulker sizes.
TradeWinds reported on 29 January how such factors encouraged major Greek sellers to offload their oldest panamaxes to willing buyers, as well as other players from Greece and Turkey to pounce on younger vessels.
In the most eye-catching deal, unidentified Greeks are said to have swooped on Oldendorff Carriers’ scrubber-fitted, 93,300-dwt post-panamax Charlotte Oldendorff (built 2010) for $15.45m.
Some brokers report that the sister ship Christine Oldendorff is part of the deal as well, at the same price.
Brokers in Greece and Norway separately report that Dubai-based Densay Shipping is offloading to Greece-based Tri Bulk Shipping the modern 63,600-dwt ultramax SSI Splendid (built 2019) for about $30m — and possibly sister ship SSI Privilege as well.
Managers at Oldendorff and Densay did not respond to requests for comment
Playing both sides of the fence
Veniamis, the purported seller of the capesize Royal Iole, is himself betting on better markets through acquisitions.
Golden Union may have sold several bulkers last year, as TradeWinds reported, but it has been quite busy on the buying side of the S&P fence as well.
Apart from the two capesizes that Golden Union is known to have acquired, the company emerged in recent months as the new owner of another pair of two ships — the 64,000-dwt KK Progression (renamed Casda, built 2018) and the 83,000-dwt Indigo Kite (renamed Erithriani, built 2012).
It bought the ships from Japan’s Kambara Kisen and IMECS Co, respectively.
