Dry CargoEurope

Economou beats the Saverys family for keenly contested newcastlemax quartet

As first reported by Splash last month, George Economou has admitted he has won his tit-for-tat battle with Belgium’s Saverys family for a quarter of keenly contested newcastlemaxes. Economou’s DryShips is paying $124m for the four Chinese 206,000 dwt bulkers that were originally snaffled by Hunter Maritime, a new dry bulk acquisition vehicle set up by the Saverys family last year. The ships – named Valley Star, Moritz Oldendorff, Super Star and Wish Star – will deliver by the end of June.

In a statement Economou described the capture of the four ships as a deal done at “historical low prices”.

“Spot rates for dry bulk vessels have continued to improve since the beginning of the year and our outlook for drybulk is positive given the modest orderbook and the continued strength of the Chinese economy that generates demand for raw commodities, ” the statement read.

Economou made it clear today he is in the market for more cheap tonnage.

“We continue to look at opportunities to diversify and grow our fleet with high quality tonnage and significant operating leverage,’ Economou said in his statement today.

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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