A 13-year-old capesize previously owned by Athens’ Unisea Shipping has joined Moundreas family company NGM Energy — the latest in a string of sale-and-purchase transactions between the two firms.
The 182,700-dwt Coronet (built 2011) emerged with NGM Energy earlier this month under a new name, NGM Bond.
This suggests the deal was concluded at some point late last year, even though US brokers reported it this weekend.
The Kawasaki HI Sakaide-built Coronet is said to have cost its new owners $27m.
The price looks favourable for seller Unisea, which acquired the vessel on the secondhand market in December 2018 for about $29m as part of a concerted strategy in which the Adamantios Lemos-led company moved into the capesize segment with three purchases — the Coronet and a pair of sister ships from Pacific International Lines.
In late 2018, Unisea brought the trio together; however, by late 2023, it opted to divest them collectively as part of its exit from the capesize arena.
The buyer in all three cases was NGM Energy.
TradeWinds already reported in November how the Piraeus-based Moundreas company acquired Unisea’s 179,500-dwt sister ships Glory and Honor (renamed NGM Glory and NGM Honor, both built 2011).
A US-based broker put the price for the Hyundai Heavy Industry-built pair at $49m combined. TradeWinds, however, understands the actual price was higher.
NGM Energy and Unisea are well used to dealing with each other. The Moundreas company bought three kamsarmaxes from Unisea in 2021 and 2022.
The three capesizes NGM Energy has bought now must have been attractive purchase candidates, considering they will not incur any expense on special surveys until 2026.
Their acquisition puts the canny and seasoned player at the forefront of Greek capesize buying.
Among the most conspicuous capesize buyers in recent months have been the Vafias family’s Brave Maritime, John Coustas-controlled Danaos Corp and Kostis Konstantakopoulos-led Costamare.
Such deals are usually fuelled by expectations for a Chinese post-Covid recovery, which came partially true in December when freight rates for such vessels surged before dropping back in January.
Moundreas’ capesize buys coincide with the lucrative sale of a suezmax in late December to Indonesia’s Pertamina International Shipping, which spent $86m to acquire NGM Energy’s modern, scrubber-fitted 156,600-dwt Bella Ciao (built 2020).
