Nasdaq-listed Castor Maritime has acquired its youngest vessel so far as it ramps up its latest purchase spree.
The Cypriot owner, controlled by Petros Panagiotidis, said it had struck a deal with an unaffiliated third party to buy a 2020-built kamsarmax for $29.95m.
The ship was not named. The purchase will be made with cash, with delivery coming this month.
Two vessels fitting that description were recently reported by TradeWinds and brokers as sold to unidentified buyers: the 81,100-dwt Vincent Triton and Tomini Nobility (both built 2020).
The fleet will total 13 ships after this deal: four kamsarmaxes, five panamaxes, an ultramax and three boxships.
The newest ships in the fleet date from 2015.
Castor has accumulated a substantial cash reserve on its balance sheet from the sale of older ships
Cash and restricted cash jumped to $236.3m by the end of the second quarter, from $120.9m at the end of 2023.
Last month, the company added a third container vessel for $16.49m. The unnamed vessel has a capacity of 1,850 teu and was built in 2009.
The seller is an unaffiliated third party.
It is not clear from the specifications which ship this could be.
Some brokers have since identified Castor as the buyer of a container ship that is one year older, the 1,850-teu Turkon Istanbul (built 2008). Both Castor and the ship’s current owner, Turkey’s Turkon Line, did not respond to a request for comment.
Castor also expects to finance this acquisition with cash on hand.
Delivery should be during October.
The feeder unit will be employed under a time charter of four months at $29,000 per day.
In July, Castor made its first secondhand purchase in two years with the acquisition of Norbulk Shipping’s 63,500-dwt ultramax Swansea (built 2015) for $25m.
Gains on disposals of four bulkers in the second quarter totalled $11.4m.
Harry Papachristou contributed to this article
