Castor Maritime raised a few eyebrows when the serial buyer of bulkers and tankers was reported to breaking into containerships — but all is not as it seems.
Broker reports linked the Petros Panagiotidis-led company to the purchase of a pair of sub-panamax boxships from Indonesian operator Temas Lines in April.
Castor was said to have bought the 2,700-teu Situ Mas (built 2005) and Segara Mas (built 2006) for about $14.2m each.
However, Castor, which is usually quick to confirm acquisitions, has not revealed any such purchase.
Just one of the ships, the Situ Mas, ended up in Greek hands. Not with Castor, however, but with Pavimar Shipping, a private company led by Petros’ sister Ismini Panayotides.
Pavimar acts as ship management company to Castor but is also listed with 11 bulkers on its own account. According to online shipping data platforms, such as IHS Markit and VesselsValue, the Situ Mas entered Pavimar’s fleet as the Ariana.
Pavimar managers did not respond to a request to comment or elaborate on the transaction.
The Segara Mas, was bought by clients of Singapore-based Sea Lead Shipping and is trading as the Goofy.
Yet another asset play for Cosmoship
Other Greek players have been busy on the small containership front as well.
In the wake of steeply rising asset values, Nick Savvas-led Cosmoship Management has added to its recent string of lucrative sales by offloading yet another pair of vessels.
French liner giant CMA CGM is said to have bought the 1,037-teu Sofrana Tourville and Sofrana Surville (both built 2009) for $26m en bloc. Piraeus-based Cosmoship has traded the ships since taking delivery of them as newbuildings.
Including its two latest sales, Cosmoship has divested three bulkers and four feeder containerships in profitable asset plays since May. At the same time, Savvas doubled his orderbook at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding by booking another pair of feeders.
Another Piraeus-based containership company, Conbulk Shipmanagement, emerged as the new manager of the 1,216-teu Lantau Ace (renamed Mayfield, built 2001) — a vessel reportedly sold in early May by Germany’s Jorg Kopping for $6m en bloc with sistership the Lantau Arrow.
Managers at Dimitris Dalacouras-led Conbulk declined to comment.
The company is known to own and manage ships on behalf of third parties.
The Lantau Ace was not the only ship Conbulk clients bought recently. London-based brokers linked the company in May to the purchase of the 1,819-teu San Andres (built 2008) and San Palliser (built 2007).
The San Palliser emerged in June in the Conbulk fleet as the Galen.
Conbulk clients have been busy on the selling side as well. The company is said to have sold the 2,800-teu Odysseus (built 2008) to South Korean interests for $19m in April.
US-based brokers said the deal included a two-year charter up to April 2023 at $17,000 per day. Conbulk’s clients had bought the Odysseus in 2014, when containership values were much lower.
