Navios Maritime Partners has sold a kamsarmax bulker at a time when values for older vessels are rising.
Brokers have reported that the New York-listed diversified shipowner sold the 82,800-dwt Navios Harmony (built 2006) to an unnamed buyer for $12.2m.
The vessel was built at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding in Japan and is fitted with a ballast water treatment system.
The reported sale price is in line with projections by VesselsValue, which estimates that the kamsarmax’s current market value is $12.9m. Rival platform Maritime Strategies International estimates a value of between $10.9m and $12.9m.
The vessel is still present on the Navios website, which says it has been trading of late in the spot market. TradeWinds has contacted the company for comment.
If confirmed, the reported price for the Navios Harmony is a shade above the $12m that Yasa Shipping achieved when it reportedly sold the vessel’s sister ship, the 82,850-dwt Yasa Fortune (built 2006), to Chinese interests in the first week of February.
Clarksons estimates one-year time charter rates of $15,900 per day for panamax bulk carriers, a category that includes kamsarmaxes. The estimate has trended upwards since August, when it hit a two-year low of $12,100 per day.
Older ships rising
Older kamsarmaxes are displaying much more rapid appreciation in value than their more modern counterparts.
Values of 10 to 15-year-old kamsarmaxes have gone up by roughly 10% over the past two months, compared with 3% for five-year-old vessels, according to Clarksons data.
Ten-year-old kamsarmaxes are today worth around $2.5m more than they were two months ago and are valued at about $26m, according to Clarksons’ most recent estimates.
Values of 15-year-old kamsarmaxes have crept up to $16.5m, rising by $1.5m since 8 December.
Over the same time frame, five-year-old kamsarmaxes have risen by around $1m, with Clarksons estimating a current market price of $34.5m.
Navios Maritime Partners sold off two other older panamaxes in December and January, ahead of their special surveys in 2024 and just after they had completed term employment.
Navios Maritime Partners’ bulker fleet comprises 69 vessels from supramax up to capesize. Seven further bulkers have been chartered in on long-term deals and three more on bareboat charters.
The company is due to report its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2023 on Tuesday.
