Digesting the fleet of freshly acquired Eagle Bulk Shipping has not dented Star Bulk Carrier’s appetite to offload older vessels amid bullish sentiment for secondhand bulkers.
The giant US-listed owner of 170 bulkers on the water or under construction has notched up a very firm price for one of its two mini-capesizes.
According to several market sources, the Petros Pappas-led firm has agreed to sell the 115,300-dwt Star Paola (built 2011) for $23.5m.
Mini-capesizes are an unusual bulker size and secondhand deals for them are few and far between.
The company, however, did not have to wait long to find an offer it deemed suitable.
As the sale-and-purchase market runs dry of available capesizes, interested buyers are not averse to lowering their sights to mini-capesizes.
The price achieved by the Star Paola is probably a reflection of that.
The $23.5m at which the Chinese-built vessel is changing hands is a bit below the $24.2m that Signal Ocean calculates it is worth but far above VesselValue’s $20.9m estimate.
The identity of the buyer remains undisclosed, with the exception of one Athens-based broker who believes it is Greek.
Star Bulk does not comment on commercial transactions outside public statements. However, the Star Paola no longer features on its fleet list.
That list has swollen after the company obtained approval from Eagle Bulk shareholders to take over its former US-listed rival.
Star Bulk’s policy of selling older ships amid a wider fleet renewal, however, well pre-dates the Eagle Bulk takeover and is likely to continue after it.
TradeWinds has already reported how Star Bulk raised about $350m from 19 ship sales on the secondhand market since March 2023.
The Star Paola deal and the pending sale of Eagle Bulk’s 55,900-dwt Crowned Eagle (built 2008), already reported by TradeWinds, have increased the number of transactions to 21 for a total estimated amount of about $390m.
Most of the vessels that Star Bulk sold over the past 12 months went to Chinese interests — the capesizes in particular.
However, these sales are part of an effort to renew rather than trim the fleet.
Divestments go hand in hand with orders for conventionally fuelled newbuildings that Pappas is booking as he bides his time before deciding which future low-carbon fuel and ship design to pick.
