Turkey’s Devbulk has begun the year in an expansionary mood, buying two Japanese-built vessels that include the youngest ship in its fleet.
The company is a fan of geared handysize tonnage, and its online fleet list features the two open-hatch vessels under their future names — the 39,800-dwt Devbulk Servet (built 2020) and 38,300-dwt Devbulk Gulten (built 2013).
According to Istanbul sources, they are the Maestro Sapphire and Eco Splendor, respectively.
The Maestro Sapphire changed hands earlier this year for $28m. Its seller was Maestro Shipping, a low-profile company based in Switzerland that is now left with a single sister ship, the 39,800-dwt Maestro Emerald (built 2020).
The Maestro Sapphire, which can transit the new and the old Panama Canal locks, is expected to join Devbulk in late March, as is the Eco Splendor, which is understood to have been bought from Japan’s Kotoku Kaiun for $18.5m.
Built at Naikai Zosen Corp, the Eco Splendor is estimated by Clarksons to have achieved a B rating last year under the International Maritime Organization’s Carbon Intensity Indicator.
The acquisitions bring Devbulk’s fleet to 12 vessels — all handysizes built in Japan between 2009 and 2020, with an average age of 11 years.
Devbulk is led by sixth-generation shipowner brothers Hakki and Orhan Deval.
