Turkey's Kasif Kalkavan family has bought back a boxship it sold in 2018, at a markup of about $3m.
Kalkavan-affiliated company Turkon Line emerged two weeks ago as the new manager of the 1,850-teu Apostolos II (renamed Turkon Istanbul, built 2008).
The vessel was reported sold in early March to undisclosed buyers by Greek-German joint venture Capital Liberty Invest at a price of about $12m.
The same ship was trading as Cafer Dede when Capital Liberty bought it from Kalkavan interests in December 2018 for about $9m, according to brokers at the time.
Turkon Line is well acquainted with the ship — the Apostolos II was built atKalkavan-owned Sedef Shipbuilding, alongside another five handy containerships managed by the same company.
Turkon Line was established in 1997 by members of the Kalkavan family and is active in container transportation services in the US, Europe, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
The family has a long history in shipping that stretches back to the late 19th century.
The clan first established an autonomous corporate identity in the 1950s, when it turned to ship management. Its shipping interests are currently bundled into Turkon Line and Kasif Shipping.
The purchase of the Apostolos II by its original Turkish owners brings the total size of Turkon Line’s managed fleet to eight vessels, according to the company’s website.
By contrast, Capital Liberty is listed with no other ships, according to VesselsValue.
The joint venture was formed in January 2018 by Greece’s Capital Ship Management and Bremen-based Liberty One Shipmanagement.
Capital Liberty made its first move in the secondhand market about a year later, buying two vessels from the Kalkavan stable — the Cafer Dede and 1,850-teu sistership Ibrahim Dede (built 2008).
Capital Liberty flipped the Ibrahim Dede in December 2019 for a $700,000 profit, as TradeWinds reported at the time. The ship is now trading as the Admiral Galaxy in the fleet of Malta-based Admiral Container Lines.
Before flipping its two containerships at a profit, Capital Liberty said it would seek further growth opportunities in both containerships and dry bulkers.
However, brokers and the venture's partners have reported no other transactions by Capital Liberty since. A manager at Liberty Pier Maritime Projects — a successor company to Liberty One Shipmanagement — told TradeWinds that the venture still exists.
