German bulker giant Oldendorff Carriers' latest secondhand purchase has underlined its expansion in the the post-panamax to baby capesize market.
The company claims to be a market leader for ships which range in size from roughly 84,000-dwt to 123,000-dwt.
Oldendorff now operates around 115 vessels in the size range, including 30 owned units.
In a recent off-market deal the German owner bought the post-panamax the Cosco Dalian-built 93,000-dwt Ocean Garnet (built 2010) from the Noble Group.
Noble has recently docked the vessel and installed ballast water treatment. Shipbrokers have suggested a price of $12.5m for the ship, which will be renamed Celine Oldendorff.
Ship pricing service VesselsValue estimates Ocean Garnet is worth around $11m.
In June last year Oldendorff bought a sistership Ocean Ruby (built 2010) renaming it Caroline Oldendorff for $13.2m.
Charter business
The German player has also been active in the charter market. The company has secured the JMU-built 80,000-dwt bulker Sakizaya Noble (built 2017) for a year. Shipbroking sources say Oldendorff is paying $13,000 per day for the vessel.
The Henning Oldendorff-controlled company has been steadily expanding its fleet. Nine years ago it had 400 ships of which 33 were either owned or on bareboat charter.
This figure has risen to 700 ships of all sizes of which 176 are either owned or on bareboat charters. In the early 1980s, Oldendorff operated a fleet of just 28 ships.
Noble is now thought to have just the 180,000-dwt bulker Aqua Vision (built 2011) left under its ownership.
