Beks Ship Management, a Turkish company that recently made its debut in tankers, has made good on assurances that it would expand further in the sector.
An updated fleet list on its website reveals the Istanbul-based company has boosted its tanker fleet to three units after deals to acquire an aframax and an MR product tanker.
This is in line with statements by the company’s principal Ali Bekmezci, who told TradeWinds in August that he was making arrangements to buy those ship types.
Beks has so far bought tankers that are about 15 years old, in what is understood to be a countercyclical bet on a market that has been hammered by low freight rates for months.
The Bekmezci family, who made a fortune in the Turkish textile and garment industry, picked a similar countercyclical moment when entering bulker shipping in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
One of the acquisitions that Beks revealed on its website is the 114,900-dwt Sunny Atlantica (renamed Beks Atlantica, built 2006), an aframax that previously belonged to M Sea Capital.
The Sunny Atlantica was the last aframax in the fleet of M Sea Capital fleet. The Modi Mano-led company, which concentrates on handy product tankers, earlier this year sold a sistership of the Sunny Atlantica, the Antarctica, which is now trading under Vietnamese ownership as Imperia.
Beks furthermore bought an MR from the former fleet of collapsed Xihe Holdings. The 50,300-dwt Ocean Venus (built 2006) is listed on the Turkish company's website as the Beks Ebru.
Several brokers had reported the Ocean Venus as sold in late August to unidentified buyers for $6.95m. Not unlike other sales from the former Xihe stable, the collapsed group's administrators are believed to have called for best outright offers after having arranged for an independent inspection of the ship.
Xihe Group administrators are believed to have sold a sistership of the Ocean Venus, the Ocean Sunrise, at a similar price.
Some brokers believe the Ocean Venus and Ocean Sunrise went in an en-bloc deal to the same buyer.
The Ocean Sunrise, however, is not listed on the Beks website and company managers were not available to clarify the matter.
With or without the Ocean Sunrise, Beks’ acquisition spree has been impressive this year.
The company also added four vessels to its existing stock of bulkers, more than doubling the size of its mixed fleet to 13 ships.
The overall size of its outlay is estimated to be near the $100m mark.
This makes Beks one of the most rapidly expanding Turkish companies this year, alongside Ciner Shipping Industry & Trading, according to TradeWinds data.
Some of Beks' investments are already producing returns. The two supramaxes it took from Turkish peer Marinsa Denizcilik early this year have nearly doubled in value.
