Japanese conglomerate Orix Corp increasingly appears to be waging a fully-fledged bulker sales campaign after reports it is divesting its most forward-looking project in the asset class.
Brokers in Athens and the US report that Orix is selling two ultramax newbuildings it ordered just a few months ago at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding.
Unidentified Greek owners are believed to have swooped on the 66,200-dwt bulkers that are scheduled for delivery in 2023, for about $35m each.
An Orix spokesman declined to comment, citing company policy to not discuss "individual [investment] cases".
Orix ordered the ships in July in a deal that pushed the boundaries of ultramax construction.
The Tess66 Aeroline design — 200 dwt larger than any existing ultramax bulker — increases cargo capacity while maintaining a shallow 13.5-metre draught and the 32.25-metre beam that fits in the Panama Canal's older locks.
The design also meets the Phase 3 efficiency standards of the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index.
A $35m price tag for each vessel — Hull Nos 311 and 312 — would be broadly in line with what the project was worth in the summer, when Orix concluded the deal with Tsuneishi Zhoushan.
The price, however, looks low when compared with their current value of $38.5m each, as estimated by VesselsValue.
Different strategies
A purchase by Greek buyers would be in line with a burst of Hellenic bulker acquisitions and newbuilding orders.
US-listed Diana Shipping announced earlier this month its first capesize purchase in six years with the acquisition of a 181,500-dwt Japanese capesize newbuilding in a $60.2m resale deal.
At about the same time, Safe Bulkers, another US-listed Greek player, said it added a ninth newbuilding in Japan — an 82,000-dwt kamsarmax scheduled for delivery within the fourth quarter of 2023.
Orix, by contrast, seems to be definitely in sales mode.
In addition to the two newbuildings it is reportedly offloading now, brokers have linked the sprawling investment firm to eight separate bulker sales in 2021, as it likely takes advantage of firm prices to sell vessels it has been trading for several years.
Three of these deals have been confirmed so far.
Clients of Greece’s rapidly expanding FGM Chartering have emerged as new owners of the 25,000-dwt Lucky Trader (ex-Albatross, built 2011).
Britain’s DAO Shipping has scooped up the 337,600-dwt Yuna Orchid and Port Phillip Bay (both built 2015), which are now trading as Unity North and Unity Star, respectively.
The other five vessels, however, are still listed under Orix's ownership. These are the 33,700-dwt Eos Victory and Eos Esperance (both built 2012), the 58,600-dwt Million Bell and Glad Mark (both built 2012) and the 33,200-dwt Maritime Faith (built 2011).
Orix says it owns 25 vessels that are mostly bulkers and employed by international grain trading houses and power companies.
IHS Markit and VesselsValue, however, list it with a larger fleet of about 40 ships, nearly 30 of which are bulkers.
Orix, which has been active in shipping since 1977, is known to act as a pure owner and to charter its vessels out to grain trading houses and power companies.
