Polaris Shipping has sold two very large ore carriers for recycling at at a time when owners of large bulkers are increasingly forced to accept lower prices, demolition brokers said.

The South Korean shipowner is said to have sold the 291,000-dwt Stellar Samba (built 1994) and 288,000-dwt Stellar Iris (built 1995) for $295 per ldt.

The price for the VLOCs, which were converted from tankers, includes 1,000 tonnes of bunkers and gives the undisclosed buyer the option to deliver them to the recycling market of its choosing, sources said.

That would put the gross price of the 39,900-ldt Stellar Samba, which is due for special survey in January, at $11.8m. For the 35,000-ldt Stellar Iris, which has its special survey deadline in December, the figure equates to a $10.3m price tag.

The effort to sell the pair comes as demolition prices have fallen significantly in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Prices in Bangladesh have slumped to $285 per ldt for bulkers as of Friday — a drop of 26.9% from the $390 per ldt price at the end of 2019, according to data from Clarksons.

The recycling price rout comes at a bad time for Polaris. In January, TradeWinds reported that the Seoul-based company — a major owner of VLOCs — was looking to sell up to 10 converted ore carriers employed by Brazilian iron ore giant Vale on contracts of affreightment.

That month, the company sold the 178,000-dwt bulker Solar Breeze (built 2000) for scrapping in Bangladesh for as much as $403 per ldt.

Then in March, the 298,000-dwt Stellar Rio (built 1994) was reported sold for some $14m to $15m. But that deal did not finalise and the ship was recently sold for a lower $290 per ldt, or $13.4m.

Polaris has been planning an initial public offering on the Oslo Stock Exchange with Arctic Securities and ABG Sundal Collier as bookrunners, but the plans has been put on ice.

The South Korean company has 16 newbuildings in its fleet.

Elsewhere in the scrap market for large bulkers, demolition brokers said Adam Polemis-led company New Shipping has sold the 170,000-dwt New Athens (built 1999) for recycling in Pakistan. The ship is said to have changed hands for $312 per ldt, or $6.6m, with buyers paying for inbound port charges.

New Shipping bought the vessel from Seno Kisen for $7.5m in May 2015, when it was the named Cecilia.

New Shipping is listed with 10 capesizes in its fleet, and this is the first to be sold by the company in four years.