Shipowning powerhouse Zodiac Maritime has emerged as the undisclosed buyer of a Japanese chemical tanker.
It is the first such acquisition by Zodiac in nearly a decade, despite a substantial exposure to the chemical tanker sector, and its first non-distressed purchase this year.
And the signs are that it plans more acquisitions soon.
Zodiac's purchases in recent years have been of larger tonnage, especially VLCCs, LR2 tankers and capesizes.
But its latest known purchase was of a small ship, in a deal that flew under the radar. The 21,300-dwt Richmond Park (ex-Chemstar Jewel, built 2012), was reported sold in late October by affiliates of Japan's Iino Kaiun to an undisclosed buyer at an unknown price.
VesselsValue reckons the ship is worth $18.34m. Information providers including Equasis have subsequently attributed the ship to Zodiac.
Corporate registration records for companies newly incorporated in Liberia and the UK also indicate that Zodiac is about to buy at least three more ships of unknown type, after a secondhand buying hiatus of several months.
The owner has otherwise bought only distressed tonnage this year.
In March, it acquired two former Eletson LR2 product tankers, the 109,900-dwt Argironissos and Salamina (both built 2018), for $41m each from lessor owner Bank of Communications Financial Leasing.
Then in May, it paid a reported $37m for the 318,000-dwt VLCC Jiu Hua San (built 2009) from the former Xihe Holdings fleet.
Zodiac officials declined to confirm or deny the chemical tanker purchase, citing a policy of not commenting on commercial matters.
Zodiac keeps the fleet list on its website under password protection, but company sources claim a fleet of about 180 ships, somewhat more than third-party sources are aware of.
Shipbroker Clarksons counts 153 Zodiac ships on the water and 21 on order. It attributes 14 chemical carriers of about 20,000 dwt to the Eyal Ofer-controlled company.
Zodiac's last purchase in that segment was a decade back. In 2011 and 2012, it bought three such ships — one a Chemstar-prefixed vessel, like the recent acquisition — from the fleet of Iino Kaiun and US-Japanese partner Fairfield Chemical Carriers.
That ship, the 19,900-dwt Battersea Park (ex-Chemstar Moon, built 2002), is now among the oldest in the London-based owner's fleet.
