Following up on a string of successful asset play sales of ships last year, Nova Marine Carriers has resumed buying.
The company said on Tuesday in a statement it has agreed to buy a pair of 39,000-dwt handysizes presently owned by the Swire China Navigation group. One day later, it said it added a third, similar vessel of the same size.
Vincenzo Romeo-led Nova Marine didn’t reveal the price tag for the three ships or their identity other than to say they were built in 2013 and 2014 and will be renamed Sider Athena, Sider Evamaria and Sider Toronto.
Athens-based brokers linked the company to three Swire ships late on Monday — the 39,100-dwt Wuchang and Wuchow (both built 2013) and the 39,200-dwt Wuhu (built 2014) for an acquisition price of $22.3m for each.
“This deal confirms our market commitment and our will to increase the transportation capacity of our fleet so as to offer the most reliable service to our customers,” said Romeo, who is Nova Marine’s chief executive officer.
Delivery of the first vessel is expected in a few days with the other two to follow by April, Nova Marine said.
The Lugano-based owner and manager of about 80 bulkers, general cargo ships and cement carriers is a very busy player in the sale-and-purchase arena with a keen eye for asset play.
As TradeWinds reported, the company benefitted from rising values to notch up a string of lucrative ship sales in 2021, during which it offloaded seven handysizes and a supramax to companies like Tri Bulk, Kopuzlar, Conti Lines, van Weelde, Primebulk and Campbell Shipping.
Nova Marine is controlled by the Romeo and the Bolfo/Gozzi families. The Romeo family, which considers Greece to be its second home, has close ties to the Diamantopoulos clan that controls Piraeus-based Halkidon Shipping.
The lion's share
Nova Marine's purchases are in line with recent market trends that see buying interest resume in line with a rosier outlook on the freight market.
Handysizes had been popular amid buyers anyway, given their relative earnings stability. This contrasts with larger bulkers, especially capesizes, earnings of which have been on somewhat of a roller coaster in 2022.
Handysize ships accounted for about 50% of all activity on the dry bulk S&P market so far this year.
Other recent deals in that segment reported by brokers recently include Newport SA's 28,400-dwt Tramontana (built 2010), which is believed to have been sold to Russian interests for about $14.5m.
Narval Shipping, another Greek company that moves very rarely in the S&P market, is even said to have earned $8.5m by selling a 24-year-old vessel to Turkish interests — the 31,800-dwt Ekaterina (built 1998).
((This article was updated since original publication to add confirmation of a third handysize deal by Nova Marine))
