In a surprise move, German bulker giant Oldendorff Carriers has sold the 180,000-dwt Tete Oldendorff (built 2011) to a Greek buyer. Brokers claim that the capesize has gone for $19m, but TradeWinds is told the price is higher, likely around $19.5m.
The Tete Oldendorff is among a trio of very large bulkers that Oldendorff purchased as recently as in June this year from Trust Energy Resources (TERPL), which is part of the Tata Group, an industrial conglomerate from India.
The German owner paid as much as $53.4m for the STX-built ship, which was then trading as Trust Agility, and a total of $212.8m for the entire trio that also included sistership Trust Integrity and the much bigger, 209,300-dwt Trust Amity (built 2016).
Peter Twiss, president and CEO of Oldendorff Carriers, said at the time that the transaction was meant to extend and deepen his company's relation with Tata.
It was a package deal that included long-term contracts of affreightment for the transportation of coal to India, which also explains why the price for the three ships was well above market levels.
Strategy unclear
It remains unclear why the German company, which operates a growing fleet of more than 700 bulkers, has chosen to back out of one of these three ships now.
Some Athens-based brokers identify Greece's PrimeBulk Shipmanagement as new owner of the Tete Oldendorff. Managers at the Coronis-family outfit were not available to comment.
A purchase by PrimeBulk would make the deal even more remarkable. PrimeBulk, which has currently five bulkers, hasn't managed any capesizes so far in its history.
It would be the second Greek company to buy its first capesize recently, alogside Alberta Shipmanagement, which acquired the 176,900-dwt Lowands Erica (built 2007) last week, for about $14.5m.
PrimeBulk has been active below the radar in recent months, in hitherto unreported sale-and-purchase transactions involving smaller bulkers.
According to data on IHS Markit, PrimeBulk spent $14m in September last year to purchase the 76,200-dwt panamax Sea Rising (built 2012) from John Fredriksen company Seatankers Management.
PrimeBulk took delivery of the ship in November and renamed it Kythnos Voyager. Within six months, however, it flipped the Chinese-built vessel at an undisclosed price to Asian Bulk Logistics (ABL).
The Kythnos Voyager is now trading as Bulk Batavia and is the biggest unit in ABL's fleet that otherwise includes four small transshipment vessels it picked up two years ago from Italian industrial group Coeclerici.
