Oslo-based operator Vega Bulk Carriers has bought a supramax in the secondhand market, marking its first move into owning bulkers.
The company is said to have paid $16.5m for the 55,500-dwt Aditya (built 2008) from seller Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprise (SSOE), the bulk commodity trading arm of India's Aditya Birla Group.
Kenneth Fjelde, who owns and controls Vega Group, confirmed the purchase to TradeWinds and said the ship will be renamed Vega Stetind.
The geared vessel was built at Oshima in Japan and was bought by SSOE in 2015. Its special survey is not due until February 2023.
The reported sales price is at the more expensive end of the spectrum for recent transactions for Japanese-built supramaxes of around 13 years old, which have not achieved more than $15.5m over the past couple of months.
SSOE is a major international trader in sulphur and South African coal. It still owns the Aditya's sistership, the 58,100-dwt Vinayak (built 2009).
Vega Bulk Carriers launched in Oslo in November last year and focuses on the commercial management of panamax, supramax and handymax bulkers in the Atlantic market.
That added to Vega Group's existing dry cargo operation in Dubai, which operates bulkers east of the Suez Canal.
The group also controls Vega Offshore, which owns offshore support vessels.
The company has one platform supply vessel and two anchor handlers, one of which has been idled, according to fleet databases.
