Eagle Bulk Shipping is poised to renew its fleet further with the addition of not one but two modern ultramaxes and a deal to offload the last of the older supramaxes that it had on the sales block.
TradeWinds reported last month that the Connecticut-based bulker owner has purchased the 63,600-dwt ultramax Springfield (built 2020) from Union Maritime for about $30.2m.
Market sources said on Wednesday that the Gary Vogel-led shipowner has also purchased a sibling, with multiple shipbrokers identifying it as the 63,600-dwt Aston (built 2020), which is also in the fleet of UK-based Union Maritime.
And the sources said that Eagle Bulk has sold the 52,200-dwt Jaeger (built 2004) for $9m.
Eagle Bulk has a policy of not commenting on market reports and instead announces such transactions in its press releases.
An announcement is expected to be imminent on the ultramax buys, and the company is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
Union Maritime could not be immediately reached for comment after business hours in the UK.
The latest deals not only will trim Eagle Bulk’s fleet age profile, which VesselsValue currently estimates at an average age of 10 years, but also hikes the proportion of its fleet that has scrubbers.
The ultramax bulkers, both built at China’s Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry, have exhaust gas cleaning systems.
The kit, more popularly known as scrubbers, allows the ships to burn cheaper high-sulphur fuel oil.
The Jaeger, built at Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu in the Philippines, has no scrubber and must burn lower-sulphur alternatives to comply with the global sulphur cap.
The ship is the oldest in Eagle Bulk’s fleet of 54 ultramaxes and supramaxes, and it was the last of the company’s older vessels that had been identified as sales candidates after the sale of the 55,400-dwt Cardinal (built 2004) last year.
Its sale will leave the 55,900-dwt Crowned Eagle (built 2008) as Eagle Bulk’s oldest vessel.
The deals emerge as bulker value indicators are pointing to a rebound after declining since the middle of last year.
VesselsValue estimates that the Aston, for example, is currently worth $27.1m, up from $26.2m in early February but well below the $32.9m estimated price tag a year ago.
The valuation service estimates the Jaeger, whose buyer is not known, is worth $10.8m today, up slightly since early February but down from $13m a year ago.
