Germany's Maritime Transport + Logistik (MTL) has denied reports by shipbrokers that a fleet of handysize bulkers it operates has been sold.
Brokers reported four of the six Hyundai Mipo-built handysizes that belong to low-profile Western Maritime have been sold $43m.
MTL, the Duisburg-based dry bulk chartering arm of Germany's Hartmann Group, commercially operates the six handysizes and a small fleet of minibulkers for Western Marine.
But commercial sources with insight into the sale told TradeWinds today that no sale has taken place. Four of the ships have been pulled and now only two of the ships are being circulated for sale, the sources said.
MTL confirmed the details.
"The ships are not being circulated," MTL director Carsten Schaedlich told TradeWinds. "I see the report everywhere today. This was definitely a wrong message sent by one single broker who misunderstood something and made up a price, and other brokers then took it over."
TradeWinds reported in June that Western Maritime six owned ships — the 37,000-dwt Western Aida, Western Boheme, and Western Fedora (all built 2012) and the 37,400-dwt Western Carmen, Western Lucrezia, and Western Tosca (all built 2013) — were being circulated for sale.
Broker reports this week said the Western Boheme, Western Fedora, Western Carmen and Western Lucrezia had been sold not en bloc but separately priced for $43m in total.
"It is totally nonsense," said Schaedlich.
Schaedlich declined to comment on what is behind the sales effort or the pulling of four of the six ships.
"I am not involved with sale and purchase, only the chartering of these ships," he said, declining to say anything about the identity of the shipowning company, Western Maritime.
He also declined to say whether replacement tonnage will be acquired in case of a sale.
MTL also has chartering responsibility for a fleet of 7,000-dwt coastal trading minibulkers.
The company was until recently led by Schaedlich and Klaus Hammes, who retired in August.
The six MTL handysizes are all Cyprus-flagged, with the Hartmann Group's Cyprus-based Intership Navigation as technical manager.
Western Maritime is listed in reference sources as a Cyprus-based company. Commercial sources believe Western Maritime is Swiss-based and affiliated with Western Group, a company whose entire website consists of a logo and a Geneva office address.
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