The 179,800-dwt Five Stars Beijing (built 2010) is said to have gone to a Greek owner in an online auction. According to Chinese auction website Taobao, only a single bidder registered and offered the starting sale price of CNY 158.4m ($23.1m) for the long-idled capesize bulker.
The auction by the Ningbo Maritime Court was driven by mortgageholder Bank of Communnications Hong Kong (BoComm HK). Sources say the reserve price was set low for a prompt sale before the holidays.
A previous auction of Five Stars Beijing's former running mate in the Five Stars Global Shipping fleet, the 181,400-dwt Five Stars Fujian (built 2009), took several rounds on the Taobao site before selling for CNY 170.6m in August to Safe Bulkers of Greece.
Although the auction process may have been smoother for the second Five Stars capesize, the sale could not be called a hurried one.
BoComm HK arrested both ships two years ago after a long lay-up. It was a second arrest, after former owner Zheng Wenhe had reportedly bought time after a first arrest by handing over a year's worth of mortgage payments to the bank.
TradeWinds understands both ships were originally financed through seven-year mortgage loans of more than $38m per ship from BoCom Hong Kong.
