Taiwan's Wisdom Marine Lines says it will continue to expand and renew its fleet through newbuildings as it flatly denies market talk that it is the buyer of a modern Japanese-built supramax.

"We're not interested in secondhand," said business director Mike TL Chao. "Some people have asked us about this deal, but we don't really go out in the market and look at secondhand ships."

European broking sources were crediting the Taipei company with the purchase of the 55,000-dwt Alam Makmur (built 2015) from Malaysian Bulk Carriers (Maybulk) for $22.5m.

A sale of the Mitsui-built ship, if done at that level, would show ship values still on the rise. The Alam Makmur was put up for sale in September when a price of $21m was considered more likely. Some brokers comment that the reported price of $22.5m is suspiciously high.

Maybulk reportedly ordered the ship for $26m to $27m, and early last year it was not worth much more than $15m. It is one of the most modern ships in the Maybulk fleet.

The company has already sold two ships this year. In March, it offloaded the 48,000-dwt tanker Alam Bakti (built 2003) for $10m. Then in May, Maybulk sold the 32,000-dwt bulker Alam Sakti (built 2006) to Taylor Maritime for $7.2m.

Maybulk did not respond to enquiries this week before TradeWinds went to press.

Wisdom Marine is Taiwan's largest owner and currently has 124 ships with a very low age profile. It is primarily a bulker owner but its fleet also includes containerships, small dry ships, specialised cargoships, and LPG and vehicle carriers.

Chao says the company is making its regular round of shipyard visits and talking about ships from handysize to kamsarmax both for expansion and for fleet renewal.

"We might trim down in certain sectors as well, but that's a market-driven issue and very case specific," he said.

In July, Wisdom Marine made one secondhand purchase, buying the 58,100-dwt bulker Sunrise Sky (built 2012) for an attractive price in a deal with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance.

Wisdom Marine is said to have paid $14.65m for the vessel. Renamed the Amis Orchid, the Tsuneishi-built ship is now likely worth more than $17m.

However, Chao describes this as a one-off, driven by special circumstances, where the Japanese seller turned to an owner with whom it had a long relationship.