Oldendorff Carriers has agreed to sell four of its bulkers in three different deals worth about $160m in total, according to broker reports from Greece and the US.
Managers at the German shipping giant did not respond to a request for comment on the claim that its scrubber-fitted vessels will go to new owners in Europe and the Far East.
If confirmed, the deals would add to evidence that rising values are not dampening sale-and-purchase activity in any significant way.
In the most notable transaction, HMM in South Korea is said to be spending $55m on the 209,200-dwt newcastlemax Hermann Oldendorff (built 2016) — a ship that passed a special survey at the end of April.
In the second deal, an unidentified owner in the Far East is reportedly swooping on a pair of geared sister ships for $61m in total — the 61,000-dwt August Oldendorff (built 2015) and Alwine Oldendorff (built 2014).
These are the oldest units in Oldendorff’s owned ultramax fleet.
However, Oldendorff’s youngest ultramax on the water has also apparently been sold.
The 62,600-dwt Beate Oldendorff (built 2020) is going to an unidentified European buyer for $38.3m.
HMM is also being linked to another ultramax purchase this week.
It is said to have taken Nisshin Shipping’s scrubber-fitted 63,600-dwt Western Oslo (built 2019) for $32m. Managers at HMM did not respond to a request for comment.
‘Rolling with the punches’
The variety in age and size of the ships that Oldendorff is reportedly selling is in line with analysts’ description of a groundswell in dealmaking that extends to all corners of the bulker arena.
Selling always stands to be lucrative amid current price levels, no matter how old or young the ships concerned are, Athens-based Doric Shipbrokers wrote in its latest weekly report.
Sellers’ disposition is matched by buyers keen to move because they do not expect prices to fall.
“A portion of shipowners have accepted the status quo, are undeterred by the state of affairs and are keeping the volume of transactions at healthy levels,” Doric said.
“On the buying side, the mindset is … one of biting the bullet … and rolling with the punches,” Doric wrote.
WeberSeas, another seasoned market watcher based in Athens, also does not expect bulker prices to fall soon.
“We as brokers feel that there is not much room for values to correct, given market players have made strong gains over the last years, newbuild prices are currently at a 15-year high, which is setting a higher floor to the secondhand values, and geopolitical tensions providing support to the freight market,” WeberSeas wrote.
According to its website, Oldendorff owns 110 bulkers and 20 transshipment vessels on the water.
Any vessels sold among them stand to be replenished with fresh tonnage the company has on order.
Clarksons lists the Hamburg-based firm with 11 kamsarmax newbuildings under construction at Jiangsu New Hantong in China, all due for delivery in 2025 and 2026.
