The Vafias family has extended a busy period of investment in the dry cargo market with a $40m-plus move for two secondhand bulkers, according to market sources.
Vafias company Brave Maritime is believed to have bought a supramax and a post-panamax in deals that slipped below the radar.
Market sources said the Greek shipowner has acquired the 95,700-dwt Van Gogh (built 2013) for $25m.
Brokers have been tracking the sale by Libera Corp of Japan, which invited offers for the Imabari-built vessel in late May.
The ship will join the Brave fleet alongside the 55,700-dwt Super Bergkamp (built 2009), market sources said.
Brokers first reported the ship being sold by Blue Fleet Group in the spring for a price of $16m.
However, at the time it was only connected to unknown Greek interests.
According to VesselsValue, the ship has been renamed Supra Baron.
Market sources said Brave paid in the region of $15.5m for the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding-constructed vessel.
The Vafias family has been investing across the dry cargo market to build up the Brave fleet in the past year.
It has now acquired 19 vessels across five asset classes in the past 18 months.
Its spree spans eight capesize vessels, where Brave was an early mover in a space that has since seen record deal levels throughout the first half of this year.
Brave has also added two kamsarmaxes, five supramaxes, three handysizes and now a post-panamax.
The Vafias family is also active in the tanker and LPG spaces with different vehicles. However, brokers noted the focus on dry cargo investments makes sense given the ships have seen more moderate price increases than other sectors.
In snapping up the two latest vessels, Brave has extended its preference for ships built in Japan. The company turned away from Chinese-built bulkers some years ago.
Dry cargo sale-and-purchase activity has been running hot in the early months of this year.
According to Clarksons, a total of 385 bulkers of a combined 29.5m dwt were traded in secondhand deals between the beginning of January and the end of May, which included a record level of capesize deals.
