The week has closed with another capesize being sold, and negotiations for three more sales are ongoing, brokers tell Splash.
Bankrupt Korean carrier Change Myung has reportedly sold its HHI-built cape C Blossom (179,300 dwt, built 2009) to Hong Kong’s Five Stars Fujian for $18.9m.
If the buyer’s name sounds familiar, it’s because the company ceased payment to its seafarers onboard its vessel Five Stars Fujian in August and left them without adequate food for the onward journey from Australia’s Port of Gladstone to Hong Kong.
The vessel was arrested by Australian authorities and Five Stars Fujian went AWOL, abandoning the crew for weeks and leaving them to survive on food donations from the local Mission to Seafarers.
Splash hopes Five Stars Fujian has learned its lesson and that crews working onboard C Blossom in the future will have a happier experience.
Chang Myung Shipping filed for court protection in Seoul on April 11, struggling with debts in excess of $1bn. It sold its capes C Atlas (179,600 dwt, built 2009) to Pan Ocean in August for $18.6m and another Korea-built cape, C Winner (169,200 dwt, built 2008), for $11m to Stealth Maritime in early March.
Meanwhile, Seanergy Maritime is said to be in negotiations to buy three Korean-built capesizes from Germany’s ER Schiffahrt for $62.25m en bloc.
The rumoured vessels are ER Bayern, ER Bavaria and ER Boston (all 179,400 dwt, built 2010).
