A Fuzhou shipowner has invested his winnings from a legal victory over Greece's Alpha Bunkers in a secondhand bulker.
Hong Kong King Shan Group recently sold the 170,400-dwt An Li (built 2000) for scrap at $415 per ldt — about $10.2m — after buying it for $7.8m as the Alpha Era in a disputed transaction.
Now, it is understood that King Shan has bought another Chinese-controlled capesize — the 177,400-dwt Lin Jie (built 2003), which TradeWinds reported was sold last month to an unknown Chinese buyer.
Sources in Fuzhou said King Shan used the proceeds from the An Li sale to acquire the Lin Jie for $8.61m from Zhong An Shipping.
King Shan is controlled by Jin Jingbiao, who operates on the traditional all-equity model favoured by the small owner-operator-managers of Fuzhou, buying ships near the end of their expected lifespan and operating them intensively before scrapping them.
Jin's recent transactions come as an indirect result of China's ban on Australian coal imports.
Last June, King Shan agreed to buy the An Li for $7.8m for further trading. The ship was then bound for China with an Australian coal cargo.
By December, when it was finally allowed to discharge, its scrap value had risen by about $2m. Sources close to the deal said brokers notified Jin that the seller was cancelling and would refund the deposit. Jin found this unacceptable. Because the ship was conveniently in Chinese waters, he arrested it through the Beihai Maritime Court and succeeded in forcing a sale.
An Alpha Bulkers official characterised the arrest as wrongful at the time.
Further comment from the Greek owner was not immediately available.
Proceeds in hand, King Shan then acquired its next ship — the Lin Jie.
Zhong An Shipping is controlled by Hangzhou-based real-estate businessman Shi Zhongan, who entered shipping as a sideline and is understood to be on the way out.
