Norwegian investor Harald Moraeus-Hanssen has teamed up with co-investors to place an order for two ultramax bulkers at New Dayang Shipbuilding in China.
Moraeus-Hanssen confirmed to TradeWinds that his company Uthalden has placed an order for 63,000-dwt bulkers.
They are set for delivery at the end of 2022 and in 2023, indicating that the order may have been forged some time ago.
The ultramaxes were booked at a price of more than $29m each.
UK-based valuation platform VesselsValue estimates the newbuildings are currently worth between $35m and $36m each.
Uthalden’s co-investors include German company NSC Group and shipping investors in Sandefjord headed by Oystein Boe.
The order includes no options for additional vessels, and there are no plans to boost the bulker order further, sources said. The bulkers so far have no employment lined up.
Moraeus-Hanssen previously made profitable investments in secondhand containerships.
He spent most of his career employed in the Astrup Fearnley group including investment bank Fearnley Securities. He has played a central role in the cooperation between Fearnley and US-based Transport Recovery Fund.
Norwegian financial magazine Kapital recently estimated that Moraeus-Hanssen was worth NOK 3bn ($349m), which is twice as much as a year ago due to a strong increase in containership values.
