Turkey’s Densay Shipping has emerged as new owner of a supramax duo from a series of auctioned ships in the fleet of SAM Shipping.
The 57,200-dwt SAM Jaguar and SAM Hawk (both built 2013) went under the hammer earlier this month for just under $10.7m each and were bought by an entity called Lavera Maritime.
As TradeWinds reported at the time, Lavera was believed to be representing Turkish shipping interests. It is now becoming evident that it is Densay who is behind Lavera.
The SAM Hawk was renamed SSI Conquest last week, in line with the "SSI" prefix Densay uses when naming its bulkers. IHS Markit already shows the vessel in Densay's managed fleet.
A source familiar with the transaction is telling TradeWinds that Densay also bought the SAM Jaguar, which was auctioned separately at the Singapore High Court earlier in August and is currently in the process of being delivered to its new owners.
Both vessels were arrested by Credit Suisse in Singapore earlier this year in the Swiss bank's effort to recoup $23.7m in outstanding loans it provided to fund their acquisition back in 2012.
Credit Suisse is also targeting other bulkers linked to SAM Shipping - a company backed by prominent names in Russia and Azerbaijan, including the son-in-law of Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev.
Among other former SAM vessels already sold is the 33,400-dwt SAM Panther (built 2010). That ship appears to have been quietly bought by Cyprus-based SMT Shipping and renamed Cecilia, under the technical management of UK-based Carisbrooke.
Pontos Marine, a little-known Greek company, has emerged as buyer of the 32,600-dwt SAM Eagle (built 2010). The ship, which fetched $4.74m in a July auction on behalf of Credit Suisse, has been since renamed Lila Houston since.
