Limassol-based Castor Maritime's astonishing assault on the secondhand market has continued with the purchase of another bulker.

The Nasdaq-listed shipowner said it had acquired a 2013-built kamsarmax for a fee of $21m.

Brokers said the ship is the 82,000-dwt Peak Proteus, owned by Bermuda-registered Defender Holding.

VesselsValue assesses the ship as worth $22.65m.

Earlier this year, Defender sold its 180,700-dwt capesize True Dream (built 2014) to India's Great Eastern Shipping. The company now has five bulkers remaining.

Delivery of the Peak Proteus should take place during the second quarter or at the beginning of the third quarter, Castor said.

21 ships bought in eight months

The deal brings Castor's spending to around $300m on 21 ships since July 2020, with the fleet now standing at 24 bulkers and tankers.

Chief executive Petros Panagiotidis said: "We continue to steadily execute our expansion plan with the addition of another kamsarmax dry bulk vessel to Castor's fleet."

The latest deal came just days after the shipowner spent $49.5m on a South Korean-built fleet of five product tankers.

TradeWinds reported these vessels had been sold by Greek owner Eletson Corp, which has been in protracted discussions with bondholders over a resolution of its debt.

Vessels revealed

Two tanker market sources told TradeWinds that the vessels going to Castor are the 106,000-dwt Megalonissos and Alonissos (both built 2004), the sistership Agathonissos (built 2002), and the 37,600-dwt Sikinos and Skyros (both built 2006).

Castor's 16-ship bulker fleet now consists of one capesize, seven kamsarmaxes and eight panamaxes.

The eight-vessel tanker fleet comprises one aframax, five aframaxes and LR2s, and two MR1s.

Castor's previous bulker buy came in April, when it spent $14.5m on a 2011 Chinese-built panamax.

Borealis sells

Brokers said this vessel was Borealis Maritime's 75,000-dwt Brahms, which VesselsValue assesses as worth $15.75m.

The sale-and-purchase spree is being funded through share issues, with "significant capital on hand", according to Castor.

At the beginning of April, the company announced a fresh round of fundraising via a securities purchase agreement with unnamed institutional investors.

New York's Maxim Group acted as sole placement agent for the offering, which was expected to generate gross proceeds of $125m.