Union Maritime has sold two modern ultramaxes in lucrative sales that have brought in more than $55m in cash, just after the company ordered a host of tanker and bulker newbuildings.
One of these vessels is apparently going to Safeen, the shipping arm of ports and shipping conglomerate AD Ports Group, which earlier this month unveiled buying eight ships without identifying them.
The vessel in question is the 63,200-dwt Mount Athos (built 2014), with brokers and ship management sources saying it was bought by Safeen for about $25m.
There is a charter attached to the deal, but TradeWinds is told that it is expiring soon and, therefore, does not affect the price.
The deal is a good one for Union Maritime. The Laurent Cadji-led company is believed to have spent just $20.5m to buy the vessel about two years ago, from South Korea’s Kukje Maritime Investment Corp.
Its $25m sale price to Safeen also exceeds the $23m that VesselsValue estimates the bulker is currently worth.
The Mount Athos is a Dolphin 64 design, modern eco engine ship built at Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry.
Safeen did not respond to a request for comment.
The company, however, announced on 1 May that it was spending AED 955m ($260m) to buy five bulk carriers and three crude oil tankers as part of a cargo partnership with Bangladesh’s Saif Powetec and with Kazmortransflot — a subsidiary of the Kazakh National Oil Co.
Safeen’s new supramaxes will initially carry cargoes from ports in the United Arab Emirates to Chattogram and Mongla in Bangladesh and then to other parts of the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia and beyond.
To Seoul with love
Union Maritime’s second sale was carried out separately and concerns a much younger Dolphin 64 design ultramax.
Market sources relate that South Korean interests are spending slightly above $30m on the 63,600-dwt Vokaria (built 2020).
Union Maritime had paid just $24.5m to order the ship at Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou) five years ago, in an en-bloc newbuilding deal financed by CMB Leasing.
That newbuilding deal also included the sister ships Aston and Springfield, which both remain in Union Maritime’s fleet.
The Vokaria comes equipped with a scrubber.
Union Maritime’s ultramax sales should free up cash to help fund the company’s latest and extremely busy newbuilding activity.
As TradeWinds already reported, the diversified owner of about 70 tankers, bulkers and offshore vessels is believed to have inked newbuilding contracts worth up to $340m since March.
That spree includes 10 tanker newbuildings and two 63,000-dwt bulkers, due for delivery from separate Chinese shipyards in 2025.
The Mount Athos and Vokaria may not be the only bulkers that Union Maritime has sold this year. Brokers reported at the end of February that the company disposed of the 57,000-dwt Supra Oniki (built 2010) in a $13m deal with undisclosed Indonesian buyers.
In early April, brokers reported that the 33,700-dwt Kalixenos (built 2010) was sold as well, to Turkish interests for $10.9m.
However, none of the two reported deals seems to have materialised yet. Union Maritime continues featuring both vessels on the fleet list of its website.
