Low-profile Athens-based management company Niriis Shipping has continued its expansion drive by purchasing its 10th panamax in just two years.
The 76,600-dwt Pireas (built 2006) has entered its fleet as the Ivestos X. This brings the estimated spend of the company’s clients on acquisitions since early 2019 to about $100m.
This includes three Chinese-built panamaxes acquired between August and early October last year from Greek peer Gleamray Maritime, as TradeWinds reported.
Company executives say the outfit does not own vessels but merely manages them on behalf of clients, some of which market sources believe are based outside of Greece.
The price paid for the Pireas is not known. The Imabari Shipbuilding-constructed vessel was previously owned by Greece’s Chronos Shipping, which reportedly sold it in late January for $10.5m in an en-bloc deal with the sistership Thessaloniki.
However, that deal did not materialise as the rumoured buyer Castor Maritime opted for younger and larger vessels. Chronos Shipping then sold the Pireas to Niriis Shipping for a price understood to be similar to what Castor would have paid.
The Thessaloniki remains in Chronos' fleet and brokers say it is still a sale candidate.
Another Greek company is about to shed a similar, Japanese-built panamax.
Primerose Shipping is said to be in close talks to offload the 76,800-dwt Lord Byron (built 2005) for about $10.3m.
Initial reports said the Lord Byron — one of Primerose's oldest vessels — was being sold for more than $12m. However, TradeWinds understands that information was inaccurate.
The Lord Byron is being sold with a charter in place that expires at the end of the year and earns the vessel about $10,500 per day. The Oshima Shipbuilding-constructed vessel passed its special survey in October last year.
Allied Shipbroking said such deals show the dry bulk sale-and-purchase market is in rude health.
"Both activity and buying appetite remain at strong levels ... we can expect overall activity to stay firm," Allied said in a report on 8 March.
However, value gains may be showing the first signs of exhaustion. Some potential buyers are opting to stay on the sidelines for now but are ready to jump back in when prices soften, Doric Shipbrokers said in its latest weekly report on 5 March.
“Inevitably... players are now re-examining things,” the Athens-based broking firm said.
