Triton Navigation, a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Corp, has sold its oldest supramax, brokers say. The Mitsui-built, 56,000-dwt Triton Seagull (built 2007) changed hands for $13.1m, according to the reports.
Brokers initially linked Greek companies Diligent Holdings and TST International to the deal. TradeWinds, however, has learned that neither company had anything to do with the vessel. The latest information is that the Triton Seagull has been committed to Far Eastern buyers instead.
It seems to be company policy at Triton to shed some of its bulkers when they reach an age of between seven and eleven years. VesselsValue data shows the Amsterdam-based outfit selling four such units since 2013. The Triton Seagull would be the fifth, reducing the size of its fleet to ten bulkers and two product tankers.
Triton Navigation, however, is due to grow again next year when three product tanker newbuildings the company's principals have under construction at Japan's Onomichi and Saiki yards are due to be delivered and join its fleet.
A surfeit of second-hand supramaxes had been circulating for sale recently, in what some brokers were describing as a buyers' market. Deals such as that for the Triton Seagull suggest that the buying side feels more confident about actually entering the market and concluding transactions.
Buyers have been possibly emboldened by a robust freight rate market. The Baltic Exchange's supramax index climbed to 1,207 points on 10 October, its highest level since March 2014, and it has broadly stayed at those levels since.
More supramax deals reported this week provide further evidence for such a trend. Another Mitsui-built supramax linked to unidentified Hellenic buyers was the 55,600-dwt Indigo Evolution, which is said to have been committed for $15.5m.
A third Japanese-built supramax has already been sold, as TradeWinds reported earlier this week. Neptune Dry picked up the 55,900-dwt Ivy Unicorn (built 2011), reportedly for about $16.5m.
