C Transport Maritime (CTM) is to take over commercial management of the dry bulk fleet of Italian shipowner Premuda.
The John Michael Radziwill-led company said the Genoa-based owner’s bulker fleet is currently made up of a combination of handysizes and panamaxes.
All vessels will be managed by the commercial team of CTM at its head office in Monaco. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Premuda fleet comprises 12 bulkers, according to a fleet list on the company’s website. They comprise nine handysize bulkers, two "eco" panamaxes and one post-panamax.
The vessels are either owned, managed or on five to seven-year sale-and-leaseback transactions from Japanese owners.
“We are very excited that a company with such a strong shareholder behind them has chosen to partner and entrust us with their valuable assets,” CTM chief commercial officer Carlos Pena said.
“This is another valuable step for all stakeholders of CTM and we look forward to the times ahead.”
Marco Fiori, chief executive of Premuda Group, said: “The partnership with CTM is a further step ahead in our plan of transforming Premuda into a modern shipping company with a prevalent focus on tankers, but also with a smart and flexible operating model on the bulk space.
“I am sure that the partnership with CTM will allow us to take full advantage of the current positive cycle in the dry cargo segment.”
CTM said it currently manages a fleet of more than 200 dry cargo vessels at any point in time ranging from the handymax up to the capesize segments.
Premuda, which can trace its roots back to 1907, is now backed by Pillarstone, the KKR-supported private equity firm that completed a takeover of the company in early 2017.
Today, Premuda controls a fleet that has grown to 32 vessels across the tanker and bulker segments, helped by Pillarstone's acquisition of distressed vessels from the Italian market.
Several of Premuda’s tanker assets are deployed in pools operated by the Scorpio Group across the clean and aframax segments.
In April 2021, TradeWinds reported that Premuda had entered the 110,000-dwt PS Genova, 109,000-dwt PS Amalfi (both built 2011) and 107,500-dwt PS Trieste (built 2010) into Scorpio’s new aframax pool.
In October 2020, Premuda established a joint venture with Columbia Shipmanagement to oversee the technical management of its entire fleet.
