Taylor Maritime Investments is said to have found an Asian buyer for one of its newer bulkers, against a background of falling values.
Brokers reported that the Ed Buttery-led, London-listed shipowner has offloaded the 28,300-dwt handysize Irie Iris (built 2012) for $11.8m to Vietnamese buyers.
The Imabari-built ship was acquired from Shoei Kisen in Japan for $12.8m in 2021, the year of TMI’s London IPO.
VesselsValue assessed the ship as worth $13.8m at the beginning of September and $12.9m a year ago, suggesting a peak in prices has been reached for now.
TMI told TradeWinds its policy is not to comment on individual sales.
Its next quarterly report is due on 25 October.
Other Imabari-built handysizes have been attracting interest this month.
Japanese owner Chofuku Kisen’s larger 38,300-dwt Blue Dragon (built 2011) went for $15.35m to an unknown buyer with a special survey due.
The older 28,700-dwt Kefalonia (built 2009) fetched a reported $10.5m with a dry-docking passed. The seller was Lydia Mar Shipping in Greece, brokers said.
UK shipbroker Clarksons reported a softer week in the bulker market, with overall average sector earnings down by 4% over the past seven days to $15,170 per day on the back of weaker sentiment in China weighing on the capesize and panamax markets, although a steady flow of demand lent support to the smaller sectors.
In July, TMI issued a bullish results statement for its slimmed-down fleet after slipping into the red for the last financial year.
It had sold 22 older vessels since taking a controlling stake in Singapore rival Grindrod Shipping in December 2022.
Earlier this year, TMI received shareholder backing to take 100% control of Grindrod.
For the year to 31 March, TMI posted a net loss of $53.4m, against a profit of $26.2m in the previous year.
