E Nomikos, a traditional, low-profile shipping company that rarely moves in the secondhand market, completed two deals in quick succession to replace its oldest ship with similar but younger tonnage.
Company managers confirm to TradeWinds that they have agreed to sell the 76,800-dwt bulker Nefeli (built 2004) and acquire the 77,200-dwt bulker Xing Ji Hai (built 2009).
“The transactions are part of our broader renewal and conservative growth strategy,” E Nomikos chief executive Nikolas Chontzopoulos said.
Market sources and several broker reports say the Piraeus-based company obtained about $12m from undisclosed buyers for the Nefeli and spent about $17.5m to acquire the Xing Ji Hai from China-based Fortune Ocean Shipping and its financial backer Citic Financial Leasing.
The Nefeli’s sale price is said to include consideration for an ongoing time charter that expires in June, as well as the vessel’s recent completion of a special survey towards the end of last year.
Both ships were built in Japan — the Nefeli at Sasebo Heavy Industries and the Xing Ji Hai at Oshima Shipbuilding.
The two transactions maintain the E Nomikos fleet at a steady size of five panamaxes and kamsarmaxes while lowering its average age to 13.5 years.
Incremental fleet renewal moves are characteristic of the conservative strategies of traditional shipowners like E Nomikos, the history of which goes back to the 1920s.
The firm is named after its founder Evangelos Nomikos, who hailed from one of the branches of the well-known Nomikos shipping clan from the island of Santorini.
After the end of World War II, Evangelos Nomikos was among the core shipowners who obtained Liberty cargo ships from the US government, which formed the backbone of Greece’s post-war shipping success.
The company is led today by a third-generation descendant of the founder, who died in 1985.
Τhe Loula & Evangelos Nomikos Foundation was the sponsor of the Santorini cable car, which carries thousands of tourists each year up the volcanic island’s steep slopes from the port to the town of Fira.
Traditional mule drivers offering visitors a more picturesque but somewhat haphazard ride along the same route receive a share of the cable car’s receipts.
