Hong Kong and Shanghai-based Asia Maritime Pacific (AMP) has concluded a sale and charter-back deal with Japan’s Doun Kisen in what it hopes to make a broader long-term partnership.
The tie-up involves five large modern handysize bulkers that AMP recently acquired from Hamburg Bulk Carriers (HBC). The Jiangmen Nanyang-built ships were worth about $125m, according to broker estimates when they changed hands in two separate deals in July and August.
Data provider VesselsValue currently estimates their worth now at about $97.5m.
The ships are going on charter back to AMP from their new Japanese owner for terms of four to five years, according to AMP. They are the newest and largest ships in the AMP bulker and multipurpose (MPP) fleet.
Chief executive Mark Young and other AMP officials declined to comment on the prices they paid for the HBC ships or on the price and bareboat charter rates in the Doun Kisen deal, citing confidentiality clauses.
“When we bought them a couple of months ago, we paid a price that is higher than today’s market,” Young told TradeWinds. “But we like the size and we like the configuration, and we have routes that they are suited to, so we went ahead.”
The ships are the 39,300-dwt Ionian Spirit (ex-Venture Soul) and the 38,900-dwt Aegean Spirit (ex-Venture Breeze), Mediterranean Spirit (ex-Venture Pride, all built 2016), Saronic Spirit (ex-Venture Team) and still undelivered Venture Ocean (to be renamed Iron Maiden, both built 2015).
The Japanese and Chinese companies met in New York to conclude the deal, in part because of continuing Covid restrictions at home.
Young said his company has always been internationally oriented, and has worked on projects with Doun Kisen before but considers this one a stepping stone towards a broader cooperation, and regards Doun Kisen as a potential partner rather than only a counterparty for financing.
“Our office in Japan has mostly been involved in cargo business but I am planning a visit to Japan in the near future and we think the Japanese market is very interesting,” Young said.
“The yen is weak, for one thing, and we think some of the new modern green technologies could offer newbuilding opportunities. We are studying them.”
He underscored that Doun Kisen has good connections with most of the Japanese yards.
Ship technical management would be another possible area of cooperation with Doun Kisen.
Imabari-based, Okochi family-owned Doun Kisen is a company with over 100 owned ships and no website. It is active in practically all merchant shipping sectors including dry bulk, container shipping, tanker, LPG and LNG.
Privately owned AMP has the backing of Chinese state-owned investment powerhouse Citic Securities through its subsidiary CLSA Capital Partners, whose managing director Peter Min heads the AMP board.
Its owned or controlled fleet numbers about 30, ranging from handysize bulkers down to mini-MPPs of 6,600 dwt, including the five Doun Kisen-owned handysizes and six more financed by Fleetscape Capital in a similar deal last year, and two ships on commercial management contracts from Cosco.
The AMP fleet trades globally with a variety of cargoes but with a special focus on logs and in project cargoes out of China.
