Dry CargoGreater China

Five Star Beijing cape fetches $30m

An infamous Chinese owner has sold one of its two capesizes. The 181,500 dwt Five Stars Beijing has fetched $30m in a sale to an unspecified buyer. The ship, owned by Five Stars Global Shipping, has been lying off Zhoushan on the east coast of China since November last year.

The Chinese owner still has one more cape – the Five Stars Fujian, a ship that was arrested in Australia last year after terrible scenes of crew abandonment and dire conditions onboard.

Sources tell Splash the aim of the sale of the Five Stars Beijing is to use the cash to reinvest in the other cape and get it released from arrest. Five Star acquired the cape pair from Cido Shipping back in 2009 for a reported $71.5m each.

The owner is understood to owe China’s Bank of Communications significant sums.

Hans Thaulow

Hans Henrik Thaulow is an Oslo-based journalist who has been covering the shipping industry for the last 15 years. As well as some work for the Informa Group, Hans was the China correspondent for TradeWinds. He also contributes to Maritime CEO magazine. Hans’ shipping background extends to working as a shipbroker trainee with Simpson, Spence & Young in Hong Kong.
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