German owner MPC Capital has splashed $42m on three panamax containerships on behalf of an unnamed international investor.
The deal was done through its MPC Maritime Investments unit.
It is not naming the ships.
Already in 2018, MPC Maritime has clinched a total of nine single and multi-asset deals with an investment volume of more than $110m.
"The focus of the newly acquired vessels is on bigger containerships, supplemented by bulkers and one tanker," it said.
"The majority of the vessels are technically managed by Ahrenkiel Steamship and commercially managed by Contchart."
Both of these companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of MPC Capital and were originally set-up to focus on containerships and bulkers.
Ahrenkiel has also begun offering management services for tankers.
The acquisitions follow the successful launch of MPC Container Ships in Oslo last year, which now has 68 vessels.
MPC Capital said it was "asserting its role as a leading specialist for sourcing, financing and managing maritime assets."
More to come
"Moving forward, MPC Capital plans to further expand its business with managed accounts in order to meet increasing investor demand for attractive maritime assets," it added.
The group has EUR 5.2bn ($6bn) in assets under management.
For the first time, more than half this amount is attributable to business with institutional investors.
Shipping assets make up 44% or EUR 2.3bn of the total.
MPC said earlier this year it is expecting a revenue rise in the rest of 2018 as MPC Container Ships expands.
It announced net profit for the first half of EUR 2.8m, down from EUR 3.9m in 2017, a figure boosted by a non-recurring positive tax effect.
Revenue dipped to EUR 19.7m from EUR 22.7m over the same period.
