Lomar Shipping, a subsidiary of Libra Group, is to deliver a further bulk vessel into service this month, its ninth acquisition in the past year.
The newly renamed Ebury Trader will commence a long-term chartering arrangement with a global logistics provider, following the completion of upgrades at a shipyard in China that includes the installation of energy-saving devices.
The vessel’s entry into commercial operations represents a total investment of over $127m in dry bulk vessels in the past 12-month period.
Lomar is building its fleet of bulk carriers, which now number 14 in total, after it raised more than $2bln from the sale of virtually all of its containership fleet.
The company’s latest addition to its fleet of bulkers is a 57,016-dwt vessel that was formerly named Hai Yang Zhi Hua.
It was purchased from a company in China and originally built at the China Shipping Jiangsu shipyard in September 2011.
Nicholas Georgiou, Lomar’s chief executive, said: “Lomar has largely divested from container shipping during a period of record-breaking markets and is currently re-investing in the drybulk sector where we see considerable opportunities.”
The Ebury Trader follows the purchase and delivery to Lomar in the second half of 2023 of the Manila Trader, Rome Trader, Athens Trader, Thames Trader, Dart Trader and Avon Trader. They followed on from the arrival of the Lima Trader and Oslo Trader in May and April of 2023.
The nine additions to the Lomar fleet of dry bulk vessels have added over 600,000-dwt capacity within the last 12 months.
In October 2022 Lomar completed the acquisition of the Bremen-based Carl Büttner Holding, at an enterprise value of close to $160m, strengthening its interests in the chemical/product tanker sector.
“In 2022 Lomar invested heavily into the tanker fleet sector with the acquisition of Carl Büttner, and has since integrated the business and its people into Lomar. In these past 12 months, Lomar has strengthened its fleet of bulk carriers, and continues to identify other areas in which to invest as we move forward,” Georgiou concluded.
