Nicholas Notias has made his first foray into tankers, widening the circle of shipping players who bet on a recovery for pandemic-stricken oil carriers.
Shipbroking and shipbuilding sources have identified Notias outfit SteelShips as owner of two 50,000-dwt MR ships currently under construction at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in South Korea.
The firm order is for scrubber-ready and LNG propulsion-ready tankers that cost $37m each and are due for delivery in November 2022.
TradeWinds understands the vessels are not being built on the back of pre-arranged employment.
However, the eco-design ships’ low price, dual-fuel option and early delivery date were the key points that encouraged Notias to take the plunge into tankers, according to broking sources in Athens.
Shipbuilding sources in the Far East said the vessels were originally options held by Hong Kong's Island Navigation, which the company did not declare. Island Navigation signed up for two firm vessels at STX last year.
Managers at SteelShips declined to comment on the information.
The company has so far been active exclusively in bulkers. However, TradeWinds understands that an investment in other shipping segments has been on the company’s mind for quite some time.
Earlier this year, a company affiliated with SteelShips made an offer to buy a pair of LNG vessels. Several years ago, SteelShips was close to investing in a pair of VLCCs.
Its actual entry into tankers now can be considered a typical example of Greek counter-cyclical investing. In another such move recently, the Tsangaris family emerged as buyer of a secondhand LR2 vessel, marking its first known investment in the sector.
Faithful to bulkers
SteelShips currently owns and operates just a single bulker, the 63,200-dwt ultramax Steel Grace (ex-Ultra Omega, built 2015).
According to sources familiar with the company’s thinking, SteelShips still considers bulkers as its core business.
The company is said to be eyeing growth in bulkers with modern, eco ultramaxes. It is also understood to have made offers for several such ships on the secondhand market in recent months. At the same time, however, SteelShips does not intend to “chase up” prices, a source said.
Notias set up SteelShips in 2013 as a joint venture with private equity firm Alterna Capital Group. The cooperation with Alterna ended in 2016. A year later, Notias also parted ways amicably with Dianik Bros, another former partner.
A former attorney with Bear Stearns in New York with close family ties to traditional Greek shipping families, Notias has been working in the maritime industry since the mid-1990s.
In 2003, he established Grace Trading Corp. The company was initially chartering-in vessels in the scrap trade but has since expanded to other kinds of commodities and contracts of affreightment.
Grace Trading primarily charters vessels ranging in size from handysizes to kamsarmaxes. The company is approved by the US Aid Office to carry US aid cargoes reserved for US-flagged vessels.
