A little-known shipping investment fund has unveiled the purchase of two LPG carriers to bring its diversified fleet to five vessels.
Pelagic Partners was set up in April 2020 as an alternative investment fund, according to registration documents in Cyprus, where it is based.
The company's website features as founders Niels Hartmann, chief executive of the Hartmann Group, among those involved. Also named is Atef Abou Merhi, a second-generation member of the family that owns diversified Lebanese shipping outfit Abou Merhi Group.
“What we look for as a fund are projects that offer a healthy entry point,” Atef Abou Merhi said on Wednesday to announce the delivery of the 3,360-cbm sisterships B- Gas Mate (built 2007) and B-Gas Monarch (built 2006).
Built at Turkey’s Madenci shipyard, the two vessels were reported sold by Italy’s Lumaship in April at an undisclosed price. The pair of semi-refrigerated gas carriers passed to their new owners in the second half of June.
The deal allows Pelagic to “benefit from the upside, which we anticipate will come when, for example, Covid restrictions continue to ease”, Abou Merhi said.
Pelagic bought the two LPG vessels in a joint venture with Danish gas specialist B-Gas.
B-Gas last made headlines when its Cypriot operations declared bankruptcy in October 2020. The firm’s Danish operations, however, were unaffected and continued to serve as commercial managers of nine ships.
“From an asset value perspective, the sub-5,000-cbm segment is considered rather a niche market, with newbuildings not being justified by current prices,” Abou Merhi said.
“Hence, we believe that acquiring these vessels in partnership with one of the leading players in Europe will give us a strong strategical position.”
Pelagic lists on its website a third LPG carrier, the 4,240-cbm GasChem Phoenix (built 1993). The ship was previously part of the Hartmann Group fleet and brokers reported it as changing hands in November 2020 at an undisclosed price.
Pelagic lists owns different types of vessels as well. One of them is the 31,900-dwt bulker Seattle (built 2000), which was reported sold in July 2020 to Middle Eastern interests for about $3.8m.
The other is the 4,300-ceu pure car truck carrier (PCTC) Pelagic Piranha (built 1997), which is believed to have come under the fund’s control in December last year.
The Cyprus-based outfit seeks further growth. Its first five acquisitions were carried out under its “Pelagic Fund 1” umbrella, which is said to be seeking to complete further investments in the third quarter as it nears an initial target to spend about $50m in total.
A second fund, with a target volume of about $100m is already in preparation and will begin operating by the end of 2021, the statement said.
According to Pelagic's website, its target investors are wealthy individuals and family offices, primarily in the Middle East.
The fund will seek to diversify its fleet “as much as possible” and invest into segments that its founding members have prior expertise in — in terms of the type of cargo they carry, relations with customers and technical management.
By running its vessels in-house, Pelagic said it expects to boost return on investment.
