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Uni-Asia plans to acquire new handysize bulkerUni-Asia plans to acquire new handysize bulker

Alternative investment company Uni-Asia has established a new joint investment firm for the purpose of acquiring a newbuilding handysize bulk carrier.

Lee Hong Liang, Asia Correspondent

October 24, 2013

1 Min Read
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Singapore-listed Uni-Asia announced on Wednesday that it is now in the process of acquiring the bulk carrier through the joint venture Quest Bulkship. The shipbuilding contract with a Japanese yard is expected to be confirmed next week.

Uni-Asia currently has a fleet portfolio comprising mostly of handysizes through wholly-owned, majority-owned, joint investments and shipping fund.

In June this year, Uni-Asia took delivery of one 37,000-dwt handysize delivered by Japan's Onomichi Dockyard. The company has three more similar handysize newbuildings in the pipeline to be delivered by Imabari Shipbuilding Group between 2014 to 2016.

Michio Tanamoto, executive director and coo of Uni-Asia, told Seatrade Global that the group will focus on the handysize market, and it expects to acquire a few more handysizes in the near future to bolster its fleet strength.

He added that newbuilding prices under current market conditions are “very attractive”, especially at Japanese yards due to the weakening of the yen. The price for the three handysizes at Imabari Shipbuilding was $73m in total.

Read more about:

dry bulk shipping

About the Author

Lee Hong Liang

Asia Correspondent

Singapore-based Lee Hong Liang provides a significant boost to daily coverage of the Asian shipping markets, as well as bringing with him an in-depth specialist knowledge of the bunkering markets.

Throughout Hong Liang’s 14-year career as a maritime journalist, he has reported ‘live’ news from conferences, conducted one-on-one interviews with top officials, and had the ability to write hard news and featured stories.

 

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