Seacon Ships Management has bolstered its operated fleet with two ultramax bulker newbuildings and two secondhand supramax purchases.
Officials for the Singapore and Qingdao-based company told TradeWinds that the 63,800-dwt newbuildings Golden Bridge and Golden River are soon to be delivered into Seacon's fleet, under Seacon ownership but possibly with participation from other investors.
That is despite the fact that the vessels, built at Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, are listed in the fleet of Shanghai-based HTM Shipping.
Officials also confirmed that Seacon has bought two Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding-constructed supramaxes from South Korea's Polaris Shipping.
Brokers have described the purchase of the 56,500-dwt Solar King and Solar Jade (both built 2013), which are to be renamed Seacon Singapore and Seacon Qingdao, as still being on subjects.
Also swelling the Seacon fleet are two kamsarmaxes that TradeWinds reported in January as having been ordered from CSSC Guangzhou Huangpu Shipbuilding Co for an unknown price.
Officials said the kamsarmax pair is fully owned and will be delivered later this year.
Seacon was also recently linked to the purchase of the 170,600-dwt capesize Shinyo Endeavour (built 2002) from Fred Cheng’s Shinyo International for $11m.
Seacon officials based in Qingdao confirmed the sale but said the capesize will be part of the company's Singapore operations.
Quiet on fleet size
Under the names Seacon Ships Management Ltd and Seven Star Shipping Ltd, shipping databases describe the group as controlling a fleet of 60 ships, including owned and managed vessels in both the dry and wet sectors. But the outfit does not publicly disclose its owned fleet.
As a dry bulk operator, company officials said Seacon controls just over 20 ships in a combination of full and partial ownership, bareboat charters and third-party commercial management. The vessels range from small handysize to ultramax, plus the two kamsarmaxes on the way.
Meanwhile, parent group Seacon Shipping Group downplayed an announcement this week that it is consolidating its dry bulk operations in Qingdao and Singapore under the name Seacon Enterprise.
‘Integrate dry bulk teams’
In its statement to customers, cited by shipping information portal Ship.sh, the company said: “To integrate existing resources, unify the dry bulk transport business brand, and progress ... upgrading our business capacity, in the near future Seacon Shipping Group will integrate its Singapore and Qingdao dry bulk operating teams.”
But Captain Zhou Yong, the general manager of Seacon Ships Management, declined to comment on the move.
From 1 May, Seacon Enterprise Pte Ltd will be the only authorised name for the company's dry bulk shipping operations, from handysize to capesize, according to the report.
Other officials at the shipowner, operator and third-party technical manager say operations and employees currently in the company's bases in China and abroad will remain in place.
"We will just change the email," an official told TradeWinds. "It is just more practical to have all chartering under a single account."
