Rally of $ 650 million investment in new ships by the Konstantakopoulos family

By George George

Kostis Konstantakopoulos’ Costamare is said to have “locked in” a new deal in the bulk dry cargo transportation market, continuing the investment rally since the beginning of the year.

In particular, various freight brokers link Greek interests, without naming a company, with the acquisition of bulk carriers, ultramax type, “Soho Merchant” (built in 2015 and capacity 63,800 dwt) and “Soho Trader” (built in 2015 and capacity 63,473 dwt). However, the report of Xclusiv Shipbrokers states that the buyer is Costamare, something that is confirmed in Capital.gr by shipping brokerage sources.

As for the final purchase price of the ships, it seems to be between 46 and 50.5 million dollars. Xclusiv analysts note increased buying interest and falling prices of ultramaxes. In general, they talk about “a decline in the value of assets in the market today, compared to deals concluded in the past”. It is recalled that the excellent freight market of bulk carriers this year “took off” prices in the second hand market.

Investments – record

Costamare has made an impressive opening to dry cargo in recent months. With continuous purchases, which became known during the summer, it strengthened its fleet with a total of 37 such steamers.

Mr. Konstantakopoulos’s company is the leading buyer of used ships among the Greek shipping interests in 2021, in terms of transaction value. According to data from the analysis firm VesselsValue, by the end of September, this year’s investments exceeded $ 600 million.

After a mini-break in the previous two months, the shipping company is again “hungry” for new deals, with the latest move raising the amount of investments close to 650 million dollars.

Prior to the decision to expand into bulk carriers, Costamare operated exclusively in containerships, now owning 78 such vessels.

Strategy

The management of the company utilizes the momentum and the different characteristics of the freight markets and “locks” the ships of the fleet in advantageous charters.

In the container transport industry, it secures long-term agreements (average duration over four years), while in the dry cargo, in which charters of more than one year are not usually recorded, ships are employed in the spot market.

Indicative is the agreement for the containership “Glen Canyon” (capacity 5,642 TEUs and built in 2006), which was chartered for a period of 39-42 months, for $ 62,500 per day.

In terms of results, travel revenue amounted to $ 216.2 million in the third quarter of this year, compared to $ 107.9 million in the corresponding period of 2020. At the same time, the company’s net profit increased to $ 115.2 million from $ 25.2 million in the third quarter of last year.