Meadway Shipping & Trading (MST), a Greek bulker owner and manager, has notched up yet another acquisition that doubles the size of its fleet within 18 months.
MST owner Costas Dellaportas had six vessels in April 2021, when he amicably split his family’s interests from brother George, who set up Meadway Bulkers.
In line with an improving market outlook for bulkers, MST kept its foot on the gas since then, spending more than $130m on four ultramaxes and two handysizes.
In its latest move, the company acquired Norden’s 62,600-dwt Nord Baltic (built 2018) for $36.5m, according to ship management sources in Athens.
The scrubber-fitted, Oshima Shipbuilding-constructed vessel is due to join the Greek company in July or August.
In combination with the delivery in September of the 39,700-dwt Danae (built 2022) from Japan’s Shin Kurushima Dockyard — a newbuilding not linked to MST before — the company’s fleet will number 12 vessels in the water.
An additional pair of newbuildings will join the company in 2024. As TradeWinds reported last month, MST ordered a pair of 40,000-dwt logger handysize newbuildings for $64m in total.
The units are being built to phase 3 standards of the Energy Efficiency Design Index, which will be mandatory for ships contracted after 2025. They are likely to be built at Namura’s Hakodate shipyard, which specialises in small bulk carriers.
Combination of factors
MST managers’ decision to expand on such a wide front is due to a combination of factors — from the availability of slots at a highly respected shipyard at attractive prices, to the upswing in bulker markets.
Following the delivery of the Danae, MST’s bulker fleet will have an average age of about seven years, with its oldest vessel built in 2008.
The MST fleet ranges from handysizes to the kamsarmax-size vessels.
People familiar with MST’s thinking attach great importance to the fact that its latest acquisition, the Nord Baltic, comes equipped with a scrubber.
In view of soaring oil prices and fuel costs, such vessels expect to earn their owners a premium in the freight market.
In January 2022, the Nord Baltic suffered a cargo hold fire while in port in Southampton in the UK. Norden, however, repaired any damages from the blaze before selling on the ship, the source said.
Norden has been adding to its exposure to the product tanker market lately, which it said is showing signs of recovery.
