The New York-listed Safe Bulkers has sealed a deal for a veteran panamax ship sale, the oldest vessel in its fleet.
Parallel to announcing financial earnings on Monday, the Polys Hajioannou-led company revealed that it will sell Maritsa, a 2005 Japanese-built, panamax class, dry-bulk vessel, the oldest vessel in its fleet, at a gross sale price of $12.2m.
The veteran ship, which will be sold as part of the company’s renewal strategy, will change hands between April 2024 to May 2024.
The Japanese-built ship is the oldest unit in Safe Bulkers’ fleet of 48 panamaxes, kamsarmaxes, post-panamaxes and capesizes.
Last year the owner sold “Katerina”, a 2004 Japanese built bulk carrier for a gross sales price of $10.2m. The ship is another panamax sold by the shipowner at the end of 2023.
Now the shipowner has a fleet of 48 vessels, two of which were held for sale, consisting of 10 panamax, 12 kamsarmax, 18 post-panamax and 8 capesize class vessels, with an aggregate carrying capacity of 4.8 million dwt, and an average age of 9.9 years.
Twelve vessels in the company’s fleet are eco-ships built after 2014, and nine are IMO GHG phase 3 NOx Tier III ships, built 2022 onwards.
Polys Hajioannou has an orderbook of seven Kamsarmax class newbuilds, two of which are methanol dual-fueled, with scheduled deliveries, one in 2024, two in 2025, three in 2026 and one in 2027.
Dr. Loukas Barmparis, president of Safe Bulkers, said: “We continue our strategy to selectively sell older vessels and replace them with newbuilds aiming to improve our fleet’s environmental performance and increase our competitiveness in the new, more stringent regulatory environment.’’
