Devbulk, a company led by brothers Hakki and Orhan Deval, has added a Japanese-built handysize to its fleet.
The Istanbul-based outfit has agreed to acquire the 35,300-dwt Kirishima Sky (built 2014) and is spending $16.5m in the process, according to Turkish ship management sources.
The vessel, built at MinamiNippon, will be delivered to its new owners in March. The Kirishima Sky is currently listed in the fleet of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines.
Handysize specialist Devbulk last acquired a vessel in June last year. TradeWinds reported at the time that the company was likely to stop buying ships for a while, as it had hit on its self-imposed growth limit of a 10-ship fleet.
What changed in the meantime, however, is that the company shook off its two oldest vessels.
In deals not widely reported when they happened, Devbulk found buyers for the Imabari-built sistership pair comprising the 29,400-dwt Lady Cansen (renamed Lodestar Bingo, built 2009) and the 29,500-dwt Lady Damla (renamed Lodestar Capella, built 2008).
The price at which these vessels changed hands has not been disclosed.
With bulker values declining over the past few months, Devbulk could be on the lookout for one further acquisition to bring its fleet back to 10 ships.
The company has not ruled out expanding into bulker types bigger than handysizes.
It already picked up a supramax vessel about a year ago — the 55,900-dwt WP Ambition (renamed Lady Gulten, built 2015).
According to sources, Devbulk originally wanted to buy a handysize at that time, but saw an opportunity amid unusual market circumstances in which supramaxes were priced equally, or even lower, than handysizes.
Devbulk manages all its ships in-house with a staff of nearly 30 employees.
