Nova Marine Carriers, an owner and manager of about 80 bulkers, general cargo ships and cement carriers, has unveiled its first known bulker acquisitions since early 2022.
The Lugano-based company, which is controlled by the Bolfo Gozzi and Romeo families, said in a statement that it had finalised the purchase of two handysizes earlier this month.
The first is a 20,000-dwt vessel (renamed Sider Ambos, built 2017). According to Nova Marine, the small, modern handysize is “particularly suited to the steel and gypsum trades in which Nova Marine is engaged”.
Built at Japan’s Shin Kochi Jyuko shipyard, the Sider Ambos was previously trading as Gaia in the fleet of Toda Kisen, which was reported to have sold the vessel in early November.
Nova Marine did not disclose the price at which it acquired the vessel.
The second handysize is the Imabari Shipbuilding-built, 38,200 Sider Pera (built 2012).
This is the former Pacific Island, which brokers reported as sold to Greece’s Halkidon Shipping in mid-October for between $16m and $16.5m.
In its statement, Nova Marine clarified that the Sider Pera will be operated by Halkidon as part of the two companies’ long-standing cooperation agreement.
The Romeo family has close ties to the Diamantopoulos clan, which controls Piraeus-based Halkidon.
Nova Marine, 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.
Buying appetite
Nova Marine moved to add to its handysize exposure before secondhand values of such vessels started climbing in October.
By late November, increased interest in handysizes became more evident amid rising freight rates.
According to Eva Tzima, head of research at Seaborne Shipbrokers, prospective investors focus on younger candidates built between 2011 and 2015 in Japan.
In handysize deals reported recently, Costamare is said to have offloaded the 33,700-dwt Adventure (built 2011) to Vietnamese buyers for between $10m and $11m.
At the same time, unidentified Greek buyers are said to be spending about $17.5m on Daio Kogyo’s Hakodate-built, 34,500-dwt Global Hero (built 2015).
Another Japanese-built handysize of the same age — Shinsung Shipping’s 34,500-dwt Shinsung Clever (built 2015) — is said to be fetching a higher $18.2m. However, that price includes consideration for an ongoing time charter.
Some handysize buyers from deals concluded earlier this year have already emerged.
A newly registered Greek company called Euro West Shipping was revealed as the buyer of the 33,800-dwt Nong Lyla (built 2004) for about $8m.
Clients of another little-known Greek outfit called Sigma Shipping, which registered with authorities in April, have bought three handysizes since the company’s inception in separate deals worth about $35m in total.
The trio consists of the 32,600-dwt Yangtze Pioneer (renamed Sigma Pioneer, built 2011), Costamare’s 37,300-dwt Comity (renamed Sigma Trader, built 2010) and the 34,700-dwt African Venture (renamed Sigma Venture, built 2012).
Turkish players have been piling into handysizes as well.
Cetinkaya family-controlled Manta Shipping bought two such ships this year for more than $30m in total: Mitsui OSK Lines’ 38,300-dwt Octbreeze Island (renamed Fuat Sezgin, built 2011) and more recently the 38,200-dwt Ijssel Confidence (renamed Manta Fatma, built 2012).
A new Turkish company called ZBB Denizcilik acquired Clipper Shipping’s 37,300-dwt Clipper Como (built 2010) recently, for about $10.9m.
