Major Saudi owner Bahri has been quietly adding bulkers from Norden at the same time it was conspicuously selling tankers.
In this process, the Riyadh-based company is displaying a clear preference for modern, scrubber-fitted ultramaxes built in Japan.
Bahri has already emerged as the owner of two such vessels.
The first of them was the 62,600-dwt Nord Biscay (built 2019), a former Norden vessel that TradeWinds reported in October as sold to undisclosed buyers for a price between $32.5m and $33.3m.
The Oshima Shipbuilding-built vessel has been trading since February with Bahri under its new name Bahri Ghadah.
This was not the last such deal between Bahri and Norden.
Earlier this year, probably in early May, another transaction occurred in which the 64,500-dwt Nord Aripuana (built 2020) — another scrubber-fitted vessel built at Oshima — changed hands between the same two parties at an undisclosed price.
The Nord Aripuana has been trading with Bahri as the Bahri Munira since June.
In a more recent deal, US brokers are reporting that a similar, somewhat older ultramax is changing hands as well.
Undisclosed buyers are believed to have agreed to spend $28.5m on Pacific Carriers’ 63,500-dwt Ikan Pulas (built 2015). This is again a scrubber-fitted ultramax built at a Japanese yard — Shin Kasado Dock.
Converging interests
Bahri owns about 75 tankers, six multipurpose vessels and about a dozen bulkers.
In recent years, the company usually made headlines when selling one of its ageing crude or product carriers. It has offloaded eight such vessels over the past 12 months, including five VLCCs.
However, Bahri never made a secret of its diversification plans, part of which is its Bahri Dry Bulk unit — a joint venture it co-owns with 40% partner Arabian Agricultural Services Company (Arasco).
Alongside the recently purchased ultramaxes, Bahri Dry Bulk owns a number of kamsarmaxes as well.
According to Bahri’s website, nine of its bulkers are on long-term charters with Arasco, transporting around 1.3m tonnes of foodstuffs per year to Saudi Arabia from North and South America.
As for Norden — the source of two of Bahri’s recent bulker acquisitions — selling vessels at a profit is a long-standing part of company policy.
The Nord Aripuana and Nord Biscay were not even the most modern ultramaxes in the big Danish owner’s fleet.
Earlier this year, the company unveiled an order for six ultramax newbuildings, expressing confidence they will rise in value by the time they are delivered in two or three years’ time.
