Maria Angelicoussis — crowned the richest Greek with an estimated fortune of $5.6bn by Forbes magazine this week — is believed to be selling her first bulk carriers in a year.
London brokers report her company Maran Dry as selling the 171,700-dwt Maran Pioneer (built 2004) for $16.5m or $17m.
Earlier in the week, US brokers said that an identical sister ship, the Maran Innovation, was changing hands at an undisclosed price to unidentified buyers.
These two vessels are the oldest in Maran Dry’s sizeable fleet of 45 capesizes and newcastlemaxes.
Maran Dry declined to comment, in line with its company policy to not discuss commercial matters.
When Maran Dry parts with capesizes, it is usually to sell them for demolition.
A sale for further trading of the Maran Pioneer or of the Maran Innovation would provide additional evidence that capesize values have risen to levels that tempt even reluctant secondhand sellers.
According to research by Athens-based Seaborne Shipbrokers, the prices of 15-year-old capesizes have appreciated by 16% in the first quarter of 2023 — the biggest increase in that period for any type of bulker, of any age.
Seaborne points out that this increase was in some ways expected, as 15-year-old capesizes had seen their value drop the steepest in the second half of last year when bulker markets were in the doldrums.
Despite their price increase so far this year, buying interest for such ships remains brisk.
This may be due to thinking that capesize earnings have risen at an even faster pace than capesize values in 2023, which would justify even higher secondhand prices for such vessels.
Viewed in this light “cape values have not run fast enough”, Seaborne said.
New blood
In any case, prices have apparently risen enough for Maran Dry to entertain the thought of disposing of its oldest ships to help fund its fleet renewal.
Affiliated tanker company Maran Tankers has been already doing this with abandon, offloading a host of ageing VLCCs amid soaring prices, while taking delivery of state-of-the-art newbuildings.
Clarksons reported last month that one of these VLCC newbuildings, the 320,900-dwt VLCC Antonis I Angelicoussis (built 2023), has been by fixed by TotalEnergies subsidiary CSSSA for five years at a juicy $45,000 per day.
Maran Dry is now on a path similar to Maran Tankers.
Since January, the company has been buying and taking delivery of a pair of LNG dual-fuelled capesize newbuildings from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding — the 190,000-dwt Ubuntu Unity and Ubuntu Community (both built 2023).
These were part of a series of six capesizes that were originally contracted by mining giant Anglo American in 2020.
The last time Maran Dry sold bulkers for further trading was about a year ago, when it offloaded an octet of mini-capesizes to Chinese ship finance player Ebridge Capital.
Before that, Maran Dry’s last bulker sale for further trading took place in 2011, according to VesselsValue figures.
According to Forbes, the second-richest Greek after Angelicoussis is Glencore co-founder Aristotelis Mistakidis with an estimated fortune of $3.2bn.
Next in line are shipowners or ship fortune heirs from the Niarchos, Vardinoyiannis and Latsis families.
