W Marine, a Greek bulker player founded by Yiannis Sarantitis and led by Nikos Triantafyllakis, has bought its fourth ship in 12 months, continuing an expansion course that has seen it invest in younger secondhand vessels.
The panamax, kamsarmax and post-panamax owner has confirmed the acquisition of the 81,100-dwt Presinge Trader (built 2016) — a ship controlled by Japan’s Nisshin Shipping.
Brokers had reported on a deal for the vessel last month, just before Christmas.
However, TradeWinds is told that an actual agreement was concluded just a few days ago, with the ship due for delivery in March.
The price remains undisclosed. Greek and London brokers reported in December that the Chinese-built Presinge Trader was changing hands for about $25.5m.
It is the youngest vessel that W Marine has bought under an expansion strategy which has turned it into an owner and manager of 17 bulkers: three panamaxes, seven kamsarmaxes and seven post-panamaxes.
Throughout its expansion campaign, W Marine has stuck to buying secondhand kamsarmaxes and post-panamaxes.
The company is betting on economic growth around the rim of the Indian Ocean to fuel the earnings of its vessels.
Ship sales are a recurring phenomenon at Nisshin, a giant Japanese shipping firm that regularly renews its fleet with newbuildings.
Nisshin has taken delivery of several handysizes and panamaxes recently and has other such vessels under construction at Chinese and Japanese yards.
Seven-year-old bulkers such as the Presinge Trader also attracted the attention of other shipping players as the year turned.
The 61,500-dwt ultramaxes Xing Hao Hai and Xing He Hai (both built 2016) have been the latest in a string of vessel sales reported recently by Chinese financial owners.
In this case, Minsheng Financial Leasing is listed as the owner of the Fortune Ocean Shipping-managed ships, which brokers have been reporting as sold to other Chinese interests at $26m apiece.
