Genco Shipping & Trading has made good on its promise to keep selling its older bulkers, divesting two more capesizes.
The New York-listed shipowner is believed to have sold the 169,025-dwt Genco Maximus (built 2009) and 169,001-dwt Genco Claudius (built 2010) to an unnamed buyer, according to brokers’ reports.
Both vessels were built at South Korea’s Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and have been fitted with ballast water treatment systems and scrubbers.
TradeWinds has contacted Genco for comment.
VesselsValue estimates the pair’s combined market value at $48.2m, while Maritime Strategies International values them at up to $48.6m.
Brokers have not placed a firm figure on the transaction, which comes at a time of high deal flows involving the largest dry bulk vessels.
Genco indicated in November that it was considering selling some of the smaller capesizes in its fleet, having booked a $28.1m impairment charge for them during the third quarter.
The Genco Maximus was among these vessels, alongside the 169,098-dwt Genco Commodus (built 2009) and 169,025-dwt Genco Hadrian (built 2008).
The impairments were recognised because the ships’ estimated future discounted cash flows did not exceed their net book values.
Special surveys for all three vessels are scheduled for this year, prompting Genco to consider the sales with the aim of deploying capital on newer vessels.
The Genco Commodus was sold in November for $19.5m to an unknown Far Eastern buyer, which Genco at the time said would result in a $3m non-cash charge. This transaction was its first vessel sale in two years.
At the same time, Genco has been renewing its fleet and acquired two 2016-built capesizes in November.
The firm has plenty of money to play with and had $251m in liquidity as of 30 September last year, of which $199m was available as part of a revolving credit facility and the rest in cash.
The shipowner is due to report its results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 on 22 February.
