A supramax bulker in the managed fleet of Norway’s Eastern Bulk and owned by a Norwegian limited partnership is set to be sold to Vietnamese interests.
Brokers said the 56,000-dwt Bulk Avanti (built 2006) has gone for $12.8m.
The price for the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding-built bulker appears firm when compared with the $13.1m fetched in the recent sale of the 52,000-dwt bulker Nikkei Dragon (built 2009), which was also built at a Japanese yard.
In July, the Bulk Avanti was reported sold for $13m, but its owner insisted it had not been sold.
Sale confirmed
Ness, Risan & Partners (NRP) director Ragnvald Risan, whose company set up the limited partnership that owns the ship, confirmed the Bulk Avanti is in the process of being sold.
“But we don’t take anything for granted until the deposit is lodged,” he said.
The Bulk Avanti is not due for special survey until June 2021. The vessel is commercially managed by Eastern Bulk, which holds the largest stake in the ship.
The Bulk Avanti was purchased as Triton Swift from Triton Navigation for $17m in March 2013. In February 2016, the vessel was worth a little over $6m.
“We have followed the market down and then up again with this project,” Risan said.
This market yo-yo was also reflected in the ship’s charter hire. In 2016, the Bulk Avanti was on a six-month charter to Gearbulk at just $5,850 per day. Then last year, the ship was on a six-month employment at $13,000 per day.
At the end of 2017, the owner owed $6.2m on a mortgage to Pareto Bank. The loan matures in 2019.
