Amoysailing Maritime has nailed its third top bid at a Chinese online auction this year. Broking sources tell Splash that the Chinese owner has taken advantage of softening prices, adding its fifth purchase this year and its third seven-year-old ultramax bulker in a row, the Great Century, built at one of China’s most reputable years, Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering, with a winning bid reported at $24.52m, $3.28m less than its $27.8m winning bid for the Great Spring, now Amoy Century, a sister ship it added at an online auction in August.
Chinese auction prices frequently lead to sales below market value. Amoysailing’s latest purchase is valued at $27.35m by online pricing portal VesselsValue. The two sister ships are both 61,000 dwt in size and were previously registered owned by a Chinese lessor. In July, the ballooning outfit secured via auction a slightly smaller, same-aged Mitsui Ichihara-built bulker, the 60,000 dwt Xing Xi Hai, for $32 5m.
The latest purchase brings Amoysailing’s fleet up to 13 similar-sized bulkers with a fleet average of eight years. In addition, the Xiamen-based outfit is expanding its fleet with four ultramax bulk carrier newbuilds booked at a domestic yard.
