Dubai-based Densay Shipping has moved below the radar to expand its already considerable bulker exposure in recent weeks.
VesselsValue links the company to an order for three ultramax newbuildings at Imabari Shipbuilding in Japan.
Densay is said to have pencilled in the first ship in mid-June at a cost of $33m. As bulker values appreciated rapidly since, in the wake of soaring freight markets, that unit is already worth more than $40m now, according to London brokers.
Possibly encouraged by that turn of events, Densay is said to have topped up the order in October with two more ships at the same yard.
According to VesselsValue, Imabari will deliver all three in 2023.
No other reference source lists Densay with ultramax newbuildings at Imabari.
IHS Markit features two ultramaxes as due for completion at the yard in 2023, with Hull Nos 998 and 999, but it does not identify the owner that contracted them.
Densay managers did not respond to a request for comment. The company's website contains no information on its fleet.
If confirmed, these would be the first ultramaxes Densay has ordered in Japan.
The company has been relying on Chinese yards Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding and China Merchants Jinling Shipyard for such business so far, placing orders for five ultramaxes there in recent years.
Densay took delivery of the first in that group last month, the 63,800-dwt SSI Adventure (built 2021). The remaining four are due to follow by next October — the 63,500-dwt SSI Diligent (built 2021), as well as sisterships SSI Interceptor, SSI Vigilant, SSI Resolute and SSI Prudent (all built 2022).
Meanwhile, Densay made another debut move, this time in the secondhand market. It emerged in October as the new owner of the 175,400-dwt Aqua Honor (built 2012), which is now trading in its fleet as SSI Brilliant.
The ship was previously in the fleet of the Noble Group, which exited shipowning last year as part of a financial restructuring.
Standard Chartered had been circulating the Aqua Honor as a sale candidate since the end of June and ultimately disposed of it in early October for between $28m and $28.5m.
This is not the first time Densay has pounced on vessels sold in creditor-driven deals. In August last year, it swooped on a handysize of defunct SAM Shipping, as TradeWinds reported at the time.
It remains to be seen whether Densay plans to expand further into capesizes. Deals for such ships, however, have become rare in recent weeks as freight rates for them plummeted from, admittedly, very high levels.
"It seems inevitable buying interest will be punctured as a result," US broker Southport Atlantic said in its latest weekly report.
Densay has been primarily active in smaller bulker sizes, from handysizes to kamsarmaxes, of which it has about 25 ships. It also dipped a toe in the tanker market in 2018, buying two product tankers that are still in its fleet.
