Wallenius Lines has revealed itself as the potentially thrifty buyer of a Hoegh Autoliners vessel as it continues to build its car carrier fleet.
The Stockholm-based company said the 6,000-ceu Hoegh Chiba (built 2007) — bought for $61m — will be renamed the Auto Way once delivered in August.
It will be the company’s third owned vessel following the delivery of two newbuildings.
“The purchase from Hoegh Autoliners is in line with the strategy of being actively engaged in this shipping segment through innovation, design, building, management of and investment in both used and new tonnage, offering direct support to our partner companies,” chief executive Erik Nokleby said in a statement.
He added that the ship will be managed by Wallenius Marine and the company has already fixed the vessel.
The purchase and construction of two 6,500-ceu, LNG-ready car carriers at Yantai CIMC Raffles is a return to shipowning for Wallenius Lines, having divested its fleet in 2019.
Since then, the Kleberg family company has been primarily involved in shipping as an investor, owning half of United European Carriers and Wallenius SOL, while parent Soya Group owns over one-third of Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
The first of the two newbuildings, the Future Way, is due for delivery in April, followed by its sister ship in July, according to Clarksons.
The broker said the duo are set to be chartered to Volkswagen.
Hoegh Autoliners announced the Hoegh Chiba sale in February alongside the purchase of the 6,500-ceu Hoegh Jeddah (built 2014) from Ocean Yield for $43.2m.
After the sale, VesselsValue analyst Andrea De Luca said “eyebrows were raised in some quarters” given the sale price as his company had the ship valued at $73.4m.
“Earnings from the charter market are significantly higher based on recent five-year fixtures for similar [ships], suggesting it was a better deal for the undisclosed buyers,” De Luca said.
Still, De Luca said the market was set to be strong at least through the end of 2024.
