US bank JP Morgan looks to have executed another successful asset play on the $1bn plus bulker fleet built up during the market trough.
The company was an aggressive buyer of dry cargo tonnage through 2017, including a five ship ultramax deal with Greenship Bulk.
Brokers said one of those vessels, the 63,000-dwt Sage Sanaga (built 2012), has been sold for $20.5m. Others suggest a lower figure of less than $20m is likely in today's market.
This compares with the $17.8m JP Morgan paid for the ship in April 2017. It put the vessel through special survey late last year.
JP Morgan could not immediately be reached for comment on the transaction.
Should the sale be confirmed, the Sage Sanaga would become the third vessel out of five from the Greenship deal to be sold at a profit.
Last October the Sage Baylorcom (built 2015) was sold for just under $23m.
This vessel is now in the fleet of JME Navigation of Greece and is trading as Princess Margo. JP Morgan had paid $19.7m for the bulker.
In June last year the Colorado (built 2012) was sold to Blue Planet Shipping of Greece for $19.5m. This ship is now trading as Achilleas.
In June 2018 brokers also reported JP Morgan had sold a fourth sistership Sage Amazon (built 2012) to Blue Planet. However, it remains in the JP Morgan fleet.
It is not only ultramaxes that have proved a profitable investment for JP Morgan.
Since late 2017 it has divested 10 other bulkers at a profit, including three capesizes to Oslo over-the-counter-listed GoodBulk.
Last year JP Morgan’s appetite shifted to another area of the market, buying four VLGCs from George Economou’s DryShips.
