Just a few months after pulling off a remarkable asset play with a trio of tankers, United Maritime Corp is making a bet on a trio of bulkers.
According to ship management sources, the US-listed entity has agreed to spend more than $60m on the acquisition of three ships from Italian and Japanese owners.
The vessels in question are said to be the 78,200-dwt Oceanic Power (built 2013), the 82,200-dwt Liberty K (built 2010) and the 81,500-dwt Hampton Bay (built 2009).
Brokers in Athens and the US are reporting the three ships as sold to unidentified Greek interests.
Japan’s Mitsui OSK is thought to be parting with the Shin Kurushima-built Oceanic Power for between $23m and $23.5m.
The somewhat older Liberty K is said to be changing hands for $19.5m and the Hampton Bay for between $19m and $20m.
Managers at United Maritime Corp weren’t immediately contactable for comment.
According to observers, the company probably believes that ungeared bulkers are to be had at a relatively cheaper price than smaller, geared bulkers at the moment — thus offering more of an upside when bulker freight rates and asset values eventually recover.
This thinking would be in line with United Maritime’s last known deal, in which the company announced buying two capesizes from Seanergy Maritime, another Athens-based company it is affiliated with.
Seanergy, a pure-play capesize company, launched United Maritime as a spin-off in June 2022.
Led by both companies’ chief executive officer Stamatis Tsantanis, United Maritime set out from the beginning to adopt a “diversified business model, with investments across various maritime sectors”.
True to its word, United Maritime soon entered the tanker business with the purchase of four LR2 and aframaxes. Just a few months later, the company flipped three of them at a fat profit, much of which was promptly returned to shareholders.
That deal left United Maritime with a single tanker and a bulker. In a statement in January, however, Tsantanis said he was scouring the market for other asset-play opportunities to re-expand the company’s fleet.
If confirmed, the ongoing purchase of the Liberty K, Oceanic Power, Liberty K and Hampton Bay will boost United Maritime's fleet to seven vessels — more than it had at any other point in its brief history.
That includes: the 171,000-dwt Gloriuship (built 2004) — the capesize United Maritime Corp began life with in June; the 109,600-dwt Epanastasea (built 2008) — the only of the four tankers it didn’t flip in December; and the 177,500-dwt Goodship (built 2005) and 176,900-dwt Tradership (built 2006), which are the two capesizes it agreed to buy from Seanergy in January.
Despite hopes of a post-Corona economic revival in China, prospective buyers have been, on the whole, hesitant to pounce on larger bulkers.
Much of whatever panamax buying interest there is out there, has been scooped up by Navios Maritime Partners — one of the busiest sellers in the field.
As TradeWinds reported recently, the US-listed shipping behemoth offloaded up to six ageing panamax bulkers since September. The Angeliki Frangou-led company is now believed to be selling a seventh — the 75,500-dwt Navios Libertas (built 2007), which reportedly fetched $13.8m.
