The reported sale of a modern Norden capesize is the latest in a steadily growing list of sale-and-purchase deals said to have been concluded for big bulkers.
Managers at the Danish shipping giant declined to comment on reports by brokers based in London, Athens and the US that it is about to offload the scrubber-fitted 179,500-dwt Nord Magnes (built 2011) for about $31.5m.
Some reports suggest that the vessel, built at the former Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines, is being sold to Chinese buyers.
This is hardly a surprise, given the prominent role that owners from China and other Asian countries have played in the latest spate of capesize dealmaking.
Recent broker reports suggest that about a dozen older capesizes and newcastlemaxes have changed hands since late August.
TradeWinds has already reported about several of these deals, in which major owners from Greece such as Maran Dry Management, Alpha Bulkers, Star Bulk Carriers and Ocean Freighters were said to be shedding some of their oldest vessels.
Non-Greek sellers, however, have been busy as well, such as Compagnie Maritime Belge, Kumiai Senpaku, Lila Global, Chang Myun Shipping, Globebulk Shipping and Hyundai Glovis.
The deals not yet reported by TradeWinds involve the Nord Magnes, the 173,700-dwt C Vision (built 2008), sold for $19.1m, and the 180,000-dwt Azure Ocean (built 2007) for $25m.
In most cases, the buyers are believed to be Chinese interests seizing the opportunity to acquire these vessels despite the steep prices, likely driven by their impressive earnings performance.
At $31,976 per day last week, average spot capesize earnings hit their highest level since late March, according to Clarksons.
The latest wave of dealmaking has boosted the volume of capesize transactions this year.
The 73 capesizes and newcastlemaxes changing hands in the first half of the year was the highest number ever recorded by Clarksons since 1995, when the London brokerage began its data series.
With a deal volume of $2.4bn concluded between January and June, S&P activity would have hit a record in monetary terms as well were it not for the giddy second quarter of 2007, when merely 34 capesizes fetched $3.16bn amid huge ship values.
Dealmaking hit downright frenzy levels in February of 2024, boosted by unnaturally high spot earnings for that time of year. A record 33 capesizes changed hands that month alone, in deals worth $1.15bn.
The frantic dealmaking of the first half of 2024, however, was just the culmination of a trend that had started well before.
Led by first movers like the Vafias family’s Brave Maritime, capesize S&P started taking off last year.
