Dry CargoGreater China

Pacific Basin acquires five Japanese-built bulkers

Hong Kong’s Pacific Basin has announced the acquisition of four secondhand bulkers and one resale bulker, via five separate contracts, for a total price of $104.6m. The five vessels, all Japanese-built, consist of four supramaxes and one handymax.

Delivery of the four secondhand vessels are expected from August through to the end of the year, while the resale supramax is due for delivery from Tsuneishi in January next year.

Pacific Basin said it will settle the $104.6m acquisition by paying $58.5m cash and issuing $46.1m worth of vessel consideration shares.

“The Company looks for opportunities to buy and charter suitable quality ships for its fleet. These vessels are modern, high quality Imabari and Tsuneishi-built ships with designs suitable for the Company’s operations. Four of the five vessels are supramaxes allowing the Company to increase its relatively low proportion of owned versus chartered in supramax vessels. While supply and demand factors remain uncertain, the dry bulk market is recovering and the Board considers that these vessels can be purchased at attractive prices and that they will be beneficially employed within the Group’s fleet for the long term after they are delivered,” the company said in a release.

The new additions will take Pacific Basin’s owned fleet to 106 vessels cementing its position as Hong Kong’s largest shipowner.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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