Greek owner Eastern Mediterranean Maritime (Eastmed) has found a buyer for a 27-year-old ship that will continue trading for some time.
Data banks including S&P Global are already listing the 72,900-dwt panamax Elefsis (built 1997) under its new name of Wafra in the fleet of Combined Group Rocks, a Kuwait-based aggregates trader.
Brokers in the US, London and Greece report that the ship changed hands earlier this month for $6.6m.
This is above the $5.5m that the CSBC Kaohsiung-built vessel would be worth as a demolition candidate, according to VesselsValue.
The aggregate trade is usually regarded as end-of-life employment for older bulkers, as the rapid loading of crushed rocks takes a heavy toll on a vessel’s steel structure.
Brokers familiar with the trade note that many of the Middle East’s aggregates traders keep a small fleet of elderly bulkers on hand, as owners and operators of younger tonnage regard aggregates as a cargo of last resort.
Combined Group Rocks describes itself on its website as a joint stock company specialised in importing and selling aggregates and rocks, founded in 2009 and occupying a 40% share of its domestic market.
The company says it has a maritime transport department but does not feature any fleet list.
However, S&P identifies the company as the owner of five panamax and post-panamax bulkers, including its latest acquisition.
Combined Group Rocks may have bought the ship to replace an even older vessel in its fleet — the 94,300-dwt Moshkara (ex-Moshtaraka 2, built 1995), which is heading for demolition.
TradeWinds reported last month about the Moshtaraka 2 being sold to cash buyers on an “as is” basis to Khor Fakkan, with full Indian subcontinent options at $540 per ldt, or $7.8m in total.
The deal was said to include 450m tonnes of bunkers on board.
That demolition sale earned Combined Group Rocks a handsome $2m in profit, compared with the price which the Middle Eastern aggregates trader acquired the vessel in 2017.
For Eastmed, the sale of the Elefsis marks the company’s first bulker sale on the secondhand market in several years.
