Danaos Corp, a major boxship owner that started acquiring bulkers in July, may now have made its second consecutive move in that arena.
Brokers in London and the US are linking the John Coustas-led company to an $18.8m deal for Sinokor’s 175,900-dwt capesize West Trader (built 2009).
Athens-based brokers were the first to report a transaction for the Chinese-built ship earlier this week, attributing its acquisition to an unidentified Greek buyer.
Managers at both Danaos and Sinokor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Danaos made waves in July with a $103m en-bloc acquisition of five capesizes that were of a similar age as the West Trader.
Another similarity among the five ships Danaos bought at the time and the West Trader, which it is said to be buying now, is that all six vessels were built at the same shipyard — Jinhai Heavy Industry.
These are Danaos’ first bulker purchases since 2002. The Greek company’s moves fall in line with a growing appetite for buying in what more and more investors regard as a rising market.
“Sentiment in the [sale-and-purchase] market has turned positive amid a significant improvement of the freight market, with the BDI [Batic Dry Index] up almost 50% since early September,” Athens-based broker WeberSeas said in its latest report on 22 September.
In another capesize deal reported recently, Japan’s Yahata Kisen is said to have sold the 180,200-dwt Gracious Eternity (built 2009) at a price of between $21.8m and $22m.
Another sign of improving sentiment is the news that Taipei-listed Wisdom Marine Lines has sold its only pair of newcastlemaxes.
Brokers in London and the US are even reporting that a $61m en-bloc deal has already been concluded for the 207,900-dwt sister ships Clear Horizon and Blue Horizon (both built 2012) to Germany-based buyers.
However, Wisdom Marine told TradeWinds that an agreement to sell the two ships has yet to be finalised.
This is not the first time that Taiwan-listed Wisdom Marine is said to have offloaded the pair. Some brokers had reported them sold at the end of July, at a higher price of about $33.5m apiece.
Wisdom Marine is currently on a lively newbuilding order spree, having booked eight handysizes this year with Japanese-controlled shipyards.
The company has said it is ordering newbuildings as replacement for its older ships, some of which it has sold.
