Nova Marine Carriers has taken advantage of rising bulker values to quickly cash in on a five-year-old handysize it acquired just at the end of last year.
Several brokers are reporting a $28.5m sale to Middle Eastern interests of the 38,600-dwt Sider Harmony (built 2019) — a vessel that the Lugano-based company bought in November from Japan’s Orix Corp for about $26m.
Built at Tsuneishi Cebu, the vessel used to trade with Orix as the Iris Harmony.
The ship’s $2.5m price appreciation in the span of just a few months reflects the enthusiasm sweeping through the bulker market recently, in the wake of unusually high freight rates for such vessels for this time of year.
The gain realised by Nova Marine in the process also bolsters the company’s reputation as a busy and canny asset player in the secondhand market.
An owner and manager of about 80 bulkers, general cargo ships and cement carriers, Nova Marine is controlled by the Bolfo, Gozzi and Romeo families.
The Sider Harmony is not the only vessel the company has recently bought.
In December, Nova Marine announced acquiring the 20,000-dwt Sider Ambos (built 2017) and 38,200-dwt Sider Pera (built 2012), which were its first bulker acquisitions in nearly two years.
Ongoing buying interest for secondhand handysize bulkers is evidenced by a spate of other deals reported by brokers this week.
Unidentified Greek interests are said to be behind a $12.1m transaction for NYK Line’s 32,300-dwt Global Serenity (built 2008), as well as behind a $14m deal for Falcon Maritime’s 35,700-dwt Dragonera (built 2011).
Greek or Turkish interests are suspected to be the buyers of Far East Horizon’s 34,400-dwt Naruto Strait (built 2016) for between $20.3m and $20.5m.
However, not every transaction accurately reflects reality.
TradeWinds understands that reports about Athens-based Alberta Shipmanagement offloading the 37,300-dwt sister ships Sunset and Sunrise (both built 2009) are wide of the mark.
