Greek owner Erasmus Shipinvest has sold its oldest bulker.
It has offloaded the 74,000-dwt panamax Glory Rotterdam (built 2001) to an undisclosed buyer for $8.1m, European brokers said, and Erasmus has confirmed the deal.
The vessel passed special survey in February 2016.
The timing of the purchase was not ideal for Erasmus, as it paid D’Amato nearly $18.3m for the Glory Rotterdam in September 2011, when it was named the Maddalena D’Amato.
But its value has soared since it bottomed out in February 2016 at less than $3m.
Before the sale, Erasmus had a fleet of six panamax bulkers with an average age of 11 years, plus a four-year-old ultramax.
Profitable trading
The shipowner could probably have continued to trade the ship profitably in today’s market. This week, UK-listed Diana Shipping fixed another panamax — the 75,000-dwt Nirefs (built 2001) — to Hudson Shipping Lines for 11 to 14 months at $10,700 per day.
In November, Erasmus sold its last bulker built before 2000, when Oceanic Ship Management of the United Arab Emirates bought the 77,600-dwt Glory Pegasus (built 1998) for $7.8m.
Erasmus last purchased a vessel in September 2017, the 76,000-dwt bulker Ocean Sakura (built 2007), for $13.7m.
In addition, it has five bulkers in joint ventures with China Minsheng Trust: three kamsarmaxes and two capesizes. One of these — the 180,000-dwt MSXT Capella (built 2012) — was put up for sale in March last year but remains unsold.
This article has been updated to correct some historical information on the ownership of the Glory Rotterdam.
