Dry CargoEurope

Hunter Maritime taking five Oskar Wehr capes for $139.4m

Hunter Maritime Acquisition Corp, the acquisitive dry bulk bargain basement vehicle created by the Saverys family, has sealed a deal with Hamburg’s Oskar Wehr to buy five capesizes for $139.4m.

The vessels were built by Chinese shipyard New Times Shipbuilding and consist of Charlotte Selmer, Greta Selmer, Tom Selmer, Lene Selmer and Hugo Selmer. The vessels have a combined cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 876,352 dwt and an average fleet age of approximately 6.2 years.

Four of the vessels are employed on time charter, expiring as early as July 2017, August 2017, December 2017 and February 2018, respectively. As part of the acquisition, Hunter Maritime expects to have the time charter agreements or other employment arrangements that are in place upon the consummation of the acquisition

Ambra Shipmanagement, a company affiliated with the Oskar Wehr Group, will continue to provide technical management services for the vessels and Bocimar International, an affiliate of Hunter Maritime, will provide commercial management services for the ships.

In connection with the acquisition, Hunter Maritime intends to offer to purchase up to 8,233,100 of its Class A common shares, par value $0.0001 per share, that were sold in the company’s initial public offering, at a purchase price of $10per share.

For the Saverys family the quintuple acquisition will be a relief having come close earlier this year to sealing a deal for five larger ships for $20m less than what it is paying Oskar Wehr. The Saverys were beaten by George Economou in this earlier deal.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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