Booming container ship markets produced yet another memorable moment on Wednesday, with bidders competing fiercely over a 25-year-old boxship that has been idling in Greece for more than four years.
Three suitors slugged it out online in an auction for the 1,042-teu Mekong Spirit (built 1996) on 15 December, a source familiar with the proceedings told TradeWinds.
The winning offer at $4.36m came after five hours of bidding. That figure is 75% above the minimum reserve price auctioneers set for the Polish-built vessel and about one-third above its demolition value.
The identity of the buyer — who is expected to employ the ship in a booming charter market after making the necessary repair and maintenance — has not been revealed.
The Mekong Spirit has been idling since 2017 at the Greek port of Lavrion after its arrest by Greek authorities over suspected embargo-busting in Sudan. A Greek court cleared the ship’s crew of all related charges three years later.
The acquittal, however, came too late for the ship's owner Lumar SA, which saw creditor SEB Bank arrest the vessel and put it under the hammer to recoup about $10.5m of debt.
Lumar is no longer active and its owner Alexey Dircenko is in detention in Madrid as Spanish prosecutors ignored the Greek ruling and launched their own investigation into the case.
Rekindled optimism in the bulker market has led to some noteworthy deals for older ships in that market segment as well.
Little-known Greek owner Asterismos Navigation has reportedly offloaded a 29-year-old handysize, the 22,100-dwt Leo Star I (built 1993), for $5.2m. VesselsValue estimates that the Japanese-built ship is worth just $4.7m and has a demolition value of $3.15m.
The Leo Star I has been the only vessel Asterismos has been listed with.
A larger and slightly younger bulker, the 73,300-dwt Qin Fa 18 (built 1998), has been reportedly sold by its Chinese owners for about $10.5m.
