The buyer of two newcastlemaxes announced sold by 2020 Bulkers on Monday has not remained hidden for long.
Market sources in Athens have identified Greece’s Neda Maritime Agency as the new owner of the pair, which changed hands for $127.5m in total.
The Lykiardopulo family, which controls Neda, does not discuss its commercial transactions publicly.
It is a landmark deal for the traditional Greek owner, whose history in shipping goes back to the end of the 19th century.
The 208,500-dwt Bulk Shanghai and 208,000-dwt Bulk Seoul (both built 2019) will become the biggest bulkers ever to join the firm and will also be its youngest at this moment.
Neda, a company with 25 bulkers and tankers on the water, currently has six capesizes in its fleet built between 2009 and 2016.
The company has been sending signs that it was about to invest in younger capesize tonnage.
Its youngest ship of that type, the 180,900-dwt Anna (built 2016), was purchased just a few months ago from Sinokor Merchant Marine at about $42m, as TradeWinds reported.
Its latest acquisitions come equipped with scrubbers. This goes some way towards explaining the juicy price Neda bought them for, $63.75m each.
This is about 7% above what VesselsValue estimates each ship is worth.
Amid the current bullish phase in the bulker markets, however, some buyers deem the price worthy of investment.
The Bulk Shanghai and Bulk Seoul are just two in a string of large modern capesizes and newcastlemaxes changing hands at high valuations recently.
“Tonnage such as these two vessels comes about $10m cheaper than what a newbuilding would cost with delivery three years from now,” one market source said.
Furthermore, the Bulk Shanghai and Bulk Seoul will start generating money very soon for their new owners.
As 2020 Bulkers announced on Monday, both vessels are on index-linked charters that will expire in March. After taking delivery in April, Neda is free to dispose of them as it sees fit.
By contrast, the four newcastlemaxes that Thenamaris bought from Polaris Shipping will formally change ownership at a later date.
Their acquisition boosts the Neda fleet to 27 ships on the water: five VLCCs, five aframaxes, two newcastlemaxes, six capesizes and nine kamsarmaxes.
The company has one aframax newbuilding under construction at DH Shipbuilding due for delivery in June this year, as well as two kamsarmaxes to be completed by Chengxi Shipyard in early 2026.
The sale makes sense for Tor Olav Troim-backed 2020 Bulkers, which is taking a $40m book gain on the deal.
“Overall, given the recent rise in asset values and market strength, the sale, is in our view, highly attractive and we view it as opportunistically solid,” Fearnley Securities said.
Analysts at the Norwegian finance house said the sale created significant dividend potential that should not be underestimated.
