Just a month after making its first bulker purchases in nearly two years, Nova Marine Carriers revealed the additional acquisition of a modern handymax bulker that becomes its youngest vessel yet in that ship type.
The seller is Orix Corp — a Japanese conglomerate that has been slowly but steadily reducing its shipping exposure by divesting several modern bulkers.
On Wednesday, Switzerland’s Nova Marine announced it has taken delivery of the 38,600-dwt Sider Harmony (built 2019) in Shanghai.
Built at Tsuneishi Cebu, the vessel was previously trading with Orix as the Iris Harmony. According to several brokers and market sources, the Tokyo-based group agreed to sell it in November 2023 for about $26m.
The move is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Nova Marine — an owner and manager of about 80 bulkers, general cargo ships and cement carriers that is controlled by the Bolfo, Gozzi and Romeo families.
The Lugano-based company announced in December its first known bulker acquisitions since early 2022: the 20,000-dwt Sider Ambos (built 2017) and 38,200-dwt handymax Sider Pera (built 2012).
The Sider Harmony will be put under the technical management of Pegasus Ocean Services of Greece — a part of Diamantopoulos family-controlled Halkidon Shipping, with which Nova Marine’s principals have long-standing business ties.
Nova Marine believes small, modern handysizes are suited to the steel and gypsum trades in which it is engaged.
Founded by Giovanni Romeo, who made his first bulker purchase in 1981, the company is run today by his family and headed by his son Vincenzo.
Nova Marine, which is regarded as a busy and canny asset player in the secondhand market, also has joint ventures with Italian peer Navigazione Montanari and Canada’s Algoma Central Corp.
The company began moving to add to its handysize exposure before secondhand values of such vessels started climbing late last year.
Cold Japanese feet?
The shipping exposure of Orix, by contrast, seems to be on a steadily declining trajectory.
The Sider Harmony was part of a series of four modern handymaxes that the diversified Japanese group took delivery of from Tsuneishi Cebu in 2019 and 2020.
Two sister ships in the series were sold within an 11-month span. Orix sold the Cosmos Harmony to Turkey’s Oras Denizcilik and the Hebe Harmony to Japanese peers Abo Shoten. They are now trading as the Tuna S and Hebe Harmony, respectively.
Orix’s sale campaign began even earlier, in 2021. As TradeWinds reported at the time, the Japanese conglomerate offloaded a pair of ultramax newbuildings it had ordered at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding just a few months earlier and which represented its most forward-looking bulker project.
One of these two Tess66 Aeroline design bulkers emerged upon delivery with Greece’s Mykonos Shipping and is now trading as the 66,700-dwt Marimyr A (built 2023).
The second was picked up by Seacon and the Bank of Communications Financial Leasing and is trading as Seacon Tokyo.
Orix is believed to have received about $70m in total from the two ultramax sales.
