A drop in secondhand post-panamax values has enticed Polembros Bulkers to buy its first ship since late 2020.
The Greek company’s managing director, George Vakirtzis, confirmed he has agreed to acquire the 95,700-dwt Lowlands Energy (built 2013), a sister ship to a pair of Imabari-built vessels already in the company’s fleet of 12 ships.
Polembros had the opportunity to buy identical vessels earlier this year but chose not to due to elevated sales values.
However, with prices for such ships falling, Polembros put forward a winning bid for the Lowlands Energy, seeing off contenders from Greece and China.
According to brokers, the final price for the ship was approximately $23m.
Polembros’ willingness to accept most of the seller’s terms contributed to its successful acquisition.
The vessel’s previous owner, Japan’s Libera Corp, offloaded a sister ship in May — the 95,700-dwt Van Gogh (renamed Post Marvel, built 2013) — to Greece’s Brave Maritime for about $25m.
Another, the Claas Oldendorff, changed hands in July for $27m.
That price likely also reflects that the ship is equipped with a scrubber, while the Lowlands Energy and the Van Gogh are not.
The Claas Oldendorff is trading as Ragnar for undisclosed owners under the technical management of Anglo-Eastern.
Falling, but not low
TradeWinds has reported how falling kamsarmax values have encouraged some Greek buyers to start buying vessels.
Eva Tzima, head of research at Seaborne Shipbrokers, said prices between supramaxes and kamsarmaxes have witnessed the most pressure.
“As the first sizeably discounted transactions that took place in September were not one-offs and have been succeeded by similar trend sales, the correction mode of values is now widely evident even to the most optimistic investors,” Tzima wrote.
She estimates that prices for 10-year-old panamaxes dropped by 6.3% month on month in October.
Values, however, are still elevated by historical standards.
According to Seaborne, average prices for 10-year-old panamaxes remain 20% above their five-year average.
One factor supporting post-panamax prices is the scarcity of available, high-quality sale candidates in this relatively rare and specialised ship class.
The Lowlands Energy will become the 13th ship in the fleet of Polembros and the company’s fifth post-panamax.
The Spiros Polemis-owned company also has five newcastlemaxes, one capesize, one kamsarmax and one handysize.
Polembros is also known for its 14 aframax and suezmax crude tankers, which include three suezmax newbuildings under construction.
