The secondary market of bulk carriers has shown strong activity over the last weeks, with Greek shipowners playing a key role in the largest deals.
More specifically, the fleet of capesize bulkers of Danaos Corporation has recently reached double digits. In its fourth-quarter results, the US-listed company said it had agreed to acquire Guo May (built 2011) and Xin Hang (built 2010).
However, the acquisition of the Star Audrey (built in 2011) was also announced in the shipping company’s annual report published in the last few days. It is a scrubber-equipped cape that, according to charterers, was sold in the past few weeks for about 27 million US dollars.
After the latest transaction, Danaos, which is one of the biggest international players in the containership industry, now controls 10 capesize bulkers, seven of which have already been delivered, while the last three will join the fleet by July.
The Greek shipping company managed to expand into large cargo ships when asset values were still at relatively low levels and reaped the benefits of the upward rally in freight rates during most of the first quarter of the year.
In terms of sales, Thenamaris has been associated in the last week with the concession of the oldest bulk carrier in its fleet. This is the supramax Seaboss (built 2004), which reportedly was sold for about 11.5-11.7 million dollars.
Moreover, Target Marine has recently completed the sale of two modern bulkers at particularly high prices. In particular, it granted the ultramaxes Syros Island (built in 2015) and Andros Island (built in 2016), for 26.5 million dollars and 27.5 million dollars respectively.
