Greek bulker specialist DryDel Shipping has emerged as the buyer in a rare secondhand deal for an ice-class kamsarmax that took place five months ago.
The 81,800-dwt Nord Beluga (renamed Beluga, built 2015), which changed hands for $28m in November, has just joined DryDel’s fleet in Singapore, according to a statement posted by the company on LinkedIn.
The ship’s previous owner was Danish firm Norden, which had been trading the Nord Beluga since taking delivery of it as a newbuilding from Oshima Shipbuilding in Japan.
TradeWinds understands that it was the ship’s top-quality Japanese pedigree and its installed scrubber rather than its ice-class 1C capacity that made it an attractive acquisition target.
Prior transactions
This was not the first sale-and-purchase transaction between the two companies. In August 2023, Norden sold an even younger bulk carrier to DryDel — the 64,500-dwt ultramax Nord Amazon (renamed Utopia, built 2020).
The addition of the Nord Beluga marks a “significant milestone” for DryDel’s expanding fleet, said the Athens-based company formerly known as Meadway Shipping & Trading.
Principal Costas Dellaportas rebranded it as DryDel two months ago, to avoid confusion with the similarly named Meadway Bulkers run by his brother George.
Both companies have widened their footprint since the two siblings amicably split their interests in 2021.
The Beluga’s addition brings DryDel’s fleet to 11 bulkers on the water and 10 under construction. This excludes a further 18 bulkers that the company charters in on long-term periods.
A predilection for Japanese-built vessels is a constant in its business model.
Almost all the bulkers the company owns, orders or charters in come from yards in Japan or are controlled by Japanese shipbuilders.
DryDel’s owned fleet on the water has an average age of about seven years.
