The Embiricos family already has a reputation for well-timed moves in the secondhand market. However, if the latest broker reports from Greece are true, it is about to set a whole new asset-play standard.
Embiricos group outfit International Maritime Enterprises (IME) has agreed a sale of the 7,000-teu Crete I (built 2009) to unidentified Far Eastern buyers for a hefty $46m, the brokers said.
That is more than four times the $11m that Monaco-based IME spent to buy the vessel in November 2016. The Hyundai Heavy Industries-built ship was trading as Ilse Wulff at the time, in the fleet of Germany's Hermann Wulff.
IME acquired the ship after the KG (limited partnership) that ran it succumbed to the dismal charter market and filed for insolvency.
IME initially looked unlucky with the Crete I. Customer Emirates Shipping Lines cancelled a charter for the ship, prompting the Embiricos group to sue in Hong Kong, ultimately without success.
However, the investment more than paid for itself as a booming freight rate market for containerships in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic created the conditions for legendary asset plays.
Liner operators have been paying top dollar to acquire their own tonnage as an alternative to taking expensive ships at surging charter rates.
On 26 February, Clarksons’ time-charter rate index for boxships climbed to its highest level since 2008.
“As freight rates remain at record high levels, any reversal of the current market trajectory seems unlikely,” the London-based shipbroking giant said.
IME was linked to another very profitable move last month. As TradeWinds reported, it is believed to have sold the 5,500-teu Naxos (built 2003) to TS Lines for $25.5m. This translates into a 130% profit compared with the $11.1m that IME paid to buy the ship in January 2020 from South Korean operator HMM.
Other shipping players have clinched notable asset plays on the containership market as well. Greek interests that spent $9.6m on the 6,350-teu MOL Partner (built 2005) in July 2020 flipped the same ship in December last year to Wan Hai Lines for $24.5m.
In February this year, Arne Blystad’s Songa Container made a $19m profit on the 4,950-teu Songa Toscana (built 2013) — a ship it bought in 2018 for just $23m.
IME is also believed to have sold the 5,900-teu Folegandros (built 2001) for an undisclosed price at the end of February.
The company declined to comment on any of the deals reported on its containerships.
