Sinokor Merchant Marine has reportedly sold three newcastlemaxes at a price that would set a precedent for the class.
Brokers report that the 210,000-dwt Atlantic Lion, Atlantic Dragon and Atlantic Tiger (all built 2020) were sold for $71m each.
Pan Ocean had been named as the buyer, but the company told TradeWinds this was not correct.
TradeWinds contacted Sinokor for confirmation of the deal but did not immediately receive a response.
The trio was built at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in China and has been fitted with scrubbers.
The reported sale price surpasses that achieved in the last comparable deal when 2020 Bulkers sold a pair of five-year-old, China-built newcastlemaxes for about $64m per vessel in mid-February to Neda Maritime of Greece.
The reported price for Sinokor’s four-year-old vessels is in line with market estimates for newcastlemax newbuilding contracts.
Clarksons estimates newbuilding prices of $71m for newcastlemaxes of 205,000 dwt to 210,000 dwt, and resale contracts are priced at around $79m.
Sales of capesize and newcastlemax bulk carriers hit a record high in the first quarter, as TradeWinds has reported.
Clarksons tracked 203 bulkers of 17m dwt reported sold in the secondhand market this year to mid-March.
Twenty-seven have been capesizes, a record number of deals for the vessels during the first quarter.
Owners are focusing their attention on on-the-water vessels, giving rise to rampant sale-and-purchase activity — particularly for older vessels — and a widening price premium for resale contracts over newbuilding prices.
